To most recording artists, selling two million copies of your second album is far from failure. That is, unless your first album sold six million copies, one of your songs from that album was the most-played song on American radio for an entire year, and you made the cover of Rolling Stone.

For the Spin Doctors, the success of their 1991 debut album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite became more of a curse than a blessing.

“We went through this whole thing when our band first came out: Everybody’s writing this is a really cool, fresh band with a fresh sound — really hip and cool,” drummer Aaron Comess said in a press release.

“The thing blew up, and by the time you sell six million records, you’re not so cool anymore.”

Being cool, though, doesn’t seem too high on the list of priorities for the Spin Doctors. They say that with their new album, You’ve Got To Believe in Something, there is “no urgency” to match past sales figures.

The new album isn’t the catchy frat-boy sing-along that Kryptonite was, but on the other hand, it’s not the way-out-there, what-are-these-guys-smoking sound of their second venture, Turn It Upside Down. It’s the happy medium of chart-topping pop and pop-infused funk. Danceable and drinkable.

Not only are the Doctors sporting a more listener-friendly sound, but they’ve made changes in appearance likewise. Guitarist Eric Schenkman quit the band following the 1994 tour and has been replaced by guitarist Anthony Krizan who is best known for playing with ex-Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding.

Lead singer Chris Barron, who could have been mistaken for a cast member of Jesus Christ Super Star, has gone preppie — sort of. He shaved his trademark beard and cropped his strawberry locks in favor of a George Clooney-esque style. And, it looks like the folks at Epic took the guys in the band school-shopping.

But are all these changes just to cover up the music the Spin Doctors are tossing out? “Obviously if you’re going to have a band that’s going to continue to grow, you’ve got to experiment with different things,” Krizan said in a press release. “It’s just a natural progression in the band.”

The Spin Doctors will be progressing this way tonight when they take stage at People’s Bar and Grill. Tickets are still available for $15. Tempe’s roots rockers Simon Widowson and the Responsibles start things hopping at 9:30 p.m. ID is required.