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A hiatus followed, during which Mason released his second King Biscuit Time EP.

The band gradually gravitated back into the studio, this time recruiting noted UK producer Colin Emmanuel, aka C-Swing, to oversee the process.

The album, Hot Shots II, appeared in summer 2001, and was warmly received by critics and fans alike.

It sacrificed much of the first album's experimentation for more boiled-down pop structure and hooks.

The band had originally intended to release " Squares " ( b / w " Won "), which featured a sample from the Günter Kallmann Choir's 1970 version of Wallace Collection's " Daydream ", as the lead single.

A video had been filmed and promo discs issued, but when it transpired that another single (" Daydream in Blue " by I Monster ) featuring a sample from the same Günter Kallmann Choir recording was to be released at around the same time, the band opted to release " Broke " instead.

Two other singles were released from the album: " Human Being " in October 2001 and " Squares " in February 2002 ( with the I Monster track long out of the charts ).

The band embarked on a long tour to support the album, at one point supporting Radiohead.

In August 2002, they made No. 3 on Q magazine's list of " 50 Bands to See Before You Die ".