G. Love & Special Sauce: G. Love (vocals, guitar); Jimi "Jazz" Prescott (acoustic bass); Jeffrey "Houseman" Clemens (drums); Brodeeva (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Jack Johnson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Anton Pukshansky (guitar, clavinet, organ); Mike Tyler (guitar); David Geller (percussion); DJ Roman (scratches); T-Ray.
Engineers include: Chris DiBeneditto, Anton Pukshansky, Errin Famiglia.
Like McDonald's special sauce, the songs of this Philadelphia outfit sport a pleasingly piquant flavor. Doo wop-style harmonies, upright bass, and G. Love's jazzy couplets add up to a sort of acoustic hip-hop, but that description only partially conjures the sound. Huge helpings of guitar abound--stinging little lead lines, scratchy Stax-Volt riffs, gut-bucket Delta blues--give the music a flavor all its own. The arrangements are nifty, the vocals are sly, and even songs built around simple vamps are loaded with little surprises, like the wailing harp solo that erupts in the middle of "No Turning Back."
Songs like "Rodeo Clown," with its jaunty wordplay and languid, swinging vibe typify the air of breezy fun that permeates the proceedings. There are many flavors to be savored here; the guys get introspective on the trippy "Relax," with a quivering guitar straight out of "Crimson & Clover"; "Kick Drum" features lush harmonies that rival Boyz 2 Men; and "Friday Night" even mentions a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. PHILADELPHONIC weds a laid-back, bluesy groove with an urban sensibility to create a compelling and eminently listenable whole.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (8/5/99, p.64) - 3 stars (out of 5) - "...this is a special love...A Christian love....The spirit seems to have moved Special Sauce...PHILADELPHONIC is the lightest, breeziest album the band has recorded..."
Entertainment Weekly (8/6/99, p.64) - "...G.Love takes a crazy variety of styles - hip-hop, rural blues, '70s funk, '60s folk - and stirs them into a gumbo that somehow tastes perfect. PHILADELPHONIC is sleeker and more streamlined than its three predecessors..." - Rating: B
Q (10/99, p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...for sheer quality and individuality - from quoting Hendrix to old funk riffs, from embracing hip hop as rock'n'roll to professing love for a decaying home town - it's as engaging as ever."
