L.A.'s
Wylde Bunch kick out a second EP in the 2006 calendar year. Rushing this baby out seems to be more a marketing ploy to capitalize on "Yeah Yeah (Stomp the Bleachers)" -- the cut picked as the Fox Sports College Kickoff Show theme -- than anything else. Proof in the pudding is the recycling of "Dumb" from the In the Meantyme... EP without even a remix. For those who dig the theme, this is for you. As for the rest, there are five more -- four if you don't count "Dumb." This is L.A.'s new answer to the South, in that the big fonnnnkkking melody comes from the group's killer instrumental quintet complete with horns: guitarist Pops, bassist V. Ray, drummer Ish, keyboardist Daniel, trumpeters Janey and B., saxophonist Corey. MCs Tazzo, Speed, Rico, and Yung Dame join forces with backing vox Ken Folk and Byg Sexy to cut loose on "Nanana," where soul, hip-hop, grooved-out funk, and schoolboy choruses click on the one. "Lose It" is the other side of "Yeah Yeah," coming down hard with blasting guitars and handclap loops countered by crooned choruses. Unfortunately, both "On Top" and "Clash" are complete throwaways, making this a short player and an extremely mixed bag. ~ Thom Jurek