311
Razor-sharp guitars, hip-hop and funk rhythms, and healthy doses of ska and dance-hall reggae make this one of the most surprising albums to come out of the American heartland. But what's most remarkable about 311's breakthrough release is its enlightened attitude: In an otherwise terminally aggro style of music, where everyone strives to be harder than each other, 311 put down deadly weaponry on "Guns (Are for Pussies)." "Hive," meanwhile, disses hard drug use (but they're pro-hemp, of course), and "Misdirected Hostility" encourages, of all things, positivity ("All that angst sh*t is just cheesy"). Vocalist Nick Hexum and rapper Doug "S.A." Martinez trade lines with ease, and the band dexterously shifts gears between heavy tracks like "Down" and "Brodels," the frantic "Jackolantern's Weather," and the laid-back "All Mixed Up" and "Sweet."--Daniel Durchholz