If it were necessary to reduce this review to a single word, it would be:
Bangin'. Given another, it would be: F*ckin' bangin'. Whatever John
Kelley is sprinkling on his Cheerios, every DJ should be given a spoonful or
two when it comes time to release their first artist disc. Due props must
also go to Brian and Brian, as in Saitzyk and Golub, since one or the other
(or both) show up on every track but one.
Whatever the combination of composition and production chores, this
album breaks fast and hard out of the gate and for the most part
continues with some of the most infectious instrumentals to ever roll
out of Ball Of Waxx - and that's
saying quite a bit. The title track is followed by crushing groove of
"Eighty Eight," powerfully punctuated by the chest-thumping rhymes of
Dynamite Jive. Executive Producer and BOW bigwig Dave Delaski adds some
303 on "Desert Days," which, along with Alex Spuriel's percussion, adds up to
the most fully-realized cut on the album. John's lone solo piece is
"Alleycats," a reverb-y howler that definitely has some back street in it.
"Dye Sky Drive" and "Funkasaurus" both feature scratching from Spider, the
best of which brings to mind Peanut Butter Wolf's work on BT's "Movement In
Still Life."
The disc's only real soft spot is "Heavy Affairs" which isn't
all that bad, just not up to par with the rest of the record. Simply Jeff
lends a hand on "Force Ten," another solid slab of breaks and then John and
Brian G close with their second pairing (along with "Alleycats"), the
take-out inspired "Chopstix," as in "take me out dancing, baby." In fact,
JK dedicates the entire album to "the fans and beat junkies that like to
shake their ass out on the dance floor" and while these tunes will no doubt
sound great rolling out of PA systems in clubs around the country, the
complex interplay of the beats begs for the intimacy of headphones, so
splash this one all over your iPod like Friday night cologne and let it
soak on in.
