2 Skinee J's - Volumizer [Bonus Track] (CD)

All Music Guide

Too smart for the cliquish hiphop world yet too inventive for the rock crowd, 2 Skinnee J's might have to content itself as a group that is simply too good for mass appeal. Well, that's the mainstream's loss, as Volumizer is a strikingly good amalgamation of both techniques, with impressive pop sensibilities and atypical stylistic juxtapositions. In spite of the dire prediction above, the fact is that almost all of this, the band's sophomore majorlabel platter, is quite accessible; the hiphop comes from the Michael Franti school of hardhitting knocks, but the addition of musicians is what helps the more raporiented cuts stand out. There are also tracks that owe almost nothing to hiphop, such as "Grown Up," which sounds like Lenny Kravitz jamming with the Kinks, "Lost and Found," which resonates like Sugar Ray's more alternativesounding fare, and "Sugar and Candy," which melds a primal Beastie beat with Beck embracing blackness (and not for the hip factor, but because he bleeds it). Put... Volumizer on par with the early Funkadelic records in that its innovation is greater than the sum of its rock and RB parts. [A Japanese version added a bonus track.] - Brian O'Neill, All Music Guide Read more Less