G.Love & Special Sauce – The Hustle
by Greg Montano, SUNY Cortland, September 3, 2004
Philadelphia’s G.Love & Special Sauce’s newest cd release, called The Hustle, came out August 24th, 2004. I received the album in the mail on the 23rd, as I had preordered it, and I immediately put it in the CD player.The first track on the album, which is also the single, is called “Astronaut”. It's a great intro to the album bringing energy and plenty of the already well known “G.Love flavor”.
I just need a spaceship to get me right outta here.
I just wish I had never met you, let you in my stratosphere.
Spider webs getting in my brain.
I'm the brother that you drove insane.
I'm just a kid from the Milky Way.
I'm blastin off mama, I can't stay.
He's known for his jumbled and incredibly improvesque lyrics and this song does great justice to displaying the full spectrum of his skills. This song will soon be among the many that fans sing and scream along to in concert.
As usual with a G.Love & Special Sauce album, there is a range of styles mixed together--not only from song to song but within each song as well. There hasn't been a single genre into which this band has been able to be categorized. The newest album features some classic rock, hip-hop, folk, blues, jazz, alternative, as well as some country rhythms. Songs like “Don't Drop It” and “Back of the Bus” feature a mainly hip-hop style while songs “Lovin' Me” and “Sunshine” are slower paced and have more of a country feel to them. You get a more jazz style on tracks like “Two Birds” and “Hustle”. If you feel like a little reggae, “Give It To You” has a Jamaican-style beat. Each of these songs doesn't quite fit neatly into a single category; however, if need be they can be generalized. My experiences lead me to give up on putting the band into one group and just enjoy how diverse and different G.Love is.
The Hustle is not only the newest collection of work from G.Love & Special Sauce but it is also somehow an improvement on past works. This album shows growth from the band in both maturity and also in style. I'm very impressed with the disc in its entirety and look forward to hearing these songs in concert. For a more in depth look at the band, past albums, and tour dates visit them on the Web at www.philadelphonic.com.
The Last Word: 4.5 out of 5
DESIGNER: Greg Montano, New Media Design, SUNY Cortland, USA
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