OPM
Golden State of Mind
Suburban Noize
7/10
If this were on a major label I would recoil at the band photo on the reverse side of the CD, but this is on Suburban Noize so maybe it isn’t as bad as it looks. One of the band members has a giant tribal half sleeve. That’s never a good sign. He apparently wised up though, and the rest of his sleeves don’t look like they belong on an NFL player or fraternity dude. One of the dudes has two big massive dreads sticking out either side of his head though. That’s a good sign, as is the sugar skull influenced art on the front. So let’s give it a listen, mkay?
Okay, this is reggae, dub, and ska. It ain’t all that bad either. There is a little hip-hop influence on a few tracks. Or maybe that’s just Sublime influence, I don’t know. Who the hell is this Big B guy, and if he is going to be on half the album, why not just make him part of the group? He’s on 6 of 14 tracks. The album clocks in at 51 minutes and was over before I knew it. By that, I mean that it flows well.
The album is very listenable. It has mediocre moments, but for the most part it’s pretty solid, particularly “Like That” and “Feel the Vibration.” I could see putting this on while chilling out by the pool or some shit. You know: if you live in one of those apartment complexes with a pool…which I don’t. The song “Honey” has really cheesy lyrics, and I didn’t care for it. “Every minute” is a straight up Rancid rip off. Kind of puts a bad taste in my mouth and takes away from the rest of the album. Unfortunately, the song is also catchy. Oh well.
-Luke Toney