“We can change the world/In a week or a day/And if you’ve got a problem/Man, I’ll sweep them away/If you find yourself in a world full of trouble/Just call on G. Love/The superhero brother/And I’ll be there” - Superhero Brother
G. Love and Special Sauce’s Superhero Brother is their third album for Jack Johnson’s Brushfire label, and 10th overall (counting their 2002 best-of and last year’s live CD/DVD) in a career that now spans 15 years.
It’s been a long, successful run for the Philadelphia native and self-described “hip-hop blues artist,” whose self-titled 1994 Okeh/Epic Records debut was certified Gold on the strength of the MTV hit, “Cold Beverage,” and a non-stop performing ethic that still has them playing more than 150 shows a year. In fact, the group just recently returned from a headline tour in Australia that was highlighted by some shows with Jack Johnson, and will accompany him to Europe this spring. Upon their return to the U.S., the band will be headlining their own outdoor amphitheatre tour with John Butler Trio later this summer.
“We’re a hard-working band,” says G. Love of the group’s turnaround over the last two albums, 2006’s Lemonade and 2004’s The Hustle. “Every time we hit the stage or the studio, we make sure we give 150%. Playing in front of people is just such an integral part of the experience for us. We love to ride that energy and get that instant reaction.”
Superhero Brother, recorded in Philadelphia at The Studio and the band’s own Philadelphonic Studios, as well as Longview Farms Barn in Sturbridge, MA, combines both political and party songs. The album is a reflection of the band’s eclectic recipe for its Special Sauce, from tasty, post-hip-hop Beatles-influenced blues-rock (“Communication”), spicy tropical island rhythms over an Archie Bell and the Drells “Tighten Up” groove (“City Livin’”) and well-seasoned Chambers Brothers-style funk-rock crossed with Cream’s “I Feel Free” (“What We Need”) to sweet, blue-eyed Philly soul (“Crumble”), a red-hot Stones-y “Sympathy for the Devil” vibe (“Peace Love and Happiness”) and homemade, rappin’ blues layered on top of a John Lee Hooker Delta stomp (“Superhero Brother”).
“I think of us as a rock and roll group,” explains G. Love. “We definitely incorporate a lot of different flavors, which is why we tried to focus on what we’re known for this time… Making sure the backbeats are funky. Each song tells a unique story, both in subject and musical style.”
01. Communication
02. City Livin'
03. Wiggle Worm
04. Peace, Love, and Happiness
05. Soft and Sweet
06. Wont'cha Come Home
07. Crumble
08. What We Need
09. Grandmother
10. Georgia Brown
11. Who's Got The Weed
12. Superhero Brother
Tracks like “Peace Love and Happiness” and the title cut deal with social issues, something G. found hard to ignore.
“With the election coming up and the war on everybody’s minds, there’s no way some of those feelings could’ve escaped being on this record,” he says.
“Peace Love and Happiness” was inspired by a trip G. Love made to the same slums of Rio de Janeiro depicted in the movie City of God, asking pointed questions like “How come the presidents just build more bombs/When they should start disarming?/With all that money spent on guns/Instead of food and education.”
“The experience just hit me really hard,” he admits. “We had this great day playing music for the kids. I just went straight back to the hotel and wrote the song before the show, then performed it for them.”
“Superhero Brother” finds G. Love playing the role of savior, with tongue firmly in cheek and harp in mouth as he name-checks Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Britney Spears, Jesus and the whole cast of Friends, vowing to solve the myriad of problems in the Middle East by sending the troops on the first plane home to their moms.
“Wiggle Worm” combines G’s Little Walter blues harp, Houseman’s big rock drum beat a la Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” and ex-Goats member Mark Boyce’s Dr. Dre keyboard swoops into a brand-new dance craze, while “Soft and Sweet” boasts rap rhythms, acoustic guitars and a Dylanesque harp.
“I wrote ‘Soft and Sweet’ in Costa Rica several years ago on vacation, imagining how great fatherhood was going to be,” says G. “These days, it’s all about music and being a dad.”
“Wontcha Come Home” is a cover of an old Jamaican rock steady song by The Conquerers on the famed Trojan label, buttressed by Jazz and Houseman’s Sly & Robbie-like rhythm section, while the rollicking “Who’s Got the Weed,” featuring The Pharcyde MC Slim Kid Tre, begins with a bong hit and recounts the true story of Love trying to smuggle some particularly pungent homegrown Buddha aboard a plane in his shoe while stinking up the whole aisle. “I keep the crip close to my hip,” he sings.
01. Ride
02. Ain't That Right
03. Hot Cookin'
04. Can't Go Back to Jersey
05. Missing My Baby
06. Holla!
07. Banger
08. Thanks and Praise
09. Let the Music Play
10. Free
11. Beautiful
12. Rainbow
13. Breakin' Up
14. Still Hanging' Around/Sneakster
15. Love
G. Love - Vocals / Guitar / Harp
Jimi “Jazz” Prescott - Upright Bass
Jeffery “Houseman” Clemens - Drums / Vocals
Featuring guest performances from Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Marc Broussard, Blackalicious, Tristan Prettyman, Donavon Frankenreiter, Lateef the Truth Speaker, David Hidalgo from Los Lobos, Steve Molitz from Particle, Kyle from Slightly Stoopid and Jasper
All Songs Produced and Mixed by Chris DiBeneditto, except:
Ride, Breakin’ Up Produced by Chris DiBeneditto and Pete Donnelly
Banger Produced and Mixed by Chris DiBeneditto and Chief Xcel
Mastered by Chris Athens at Sterling Sound, New York, NY
Recorded at Philadelphonic Studios
Photos by Jeremy and Claire Weiss
Cover Photo by Jeff Motch
Design by Dave Lively and Jeff Motch
01. Astronaut
02. Don't Drop It
03. Love
04. Booty Call
05. The Hustle
06. Front Porch Lounger
07. Loving Me
08. Waiting
09. Fishing Song
10. Back of the Bus
11. Two Birds
12. Stone Me
13. Sunshine
G. Love - Vocals / Guitar / Harp
Jimi “Jazz” Prescott - Upright Bass
Jeffery “Houseman” Clemens - Drums / Vocals
Additional Musicians - Jack Johnson, Chuck Treece, Money Mark, Jason Yates, Danny Frankel, Koool G. Murder and Pete Kuzma
All Songs Produced by - Mario Caldato, Jr. except:
Waiting - Produced by Chris DiBeneditto
Back of the Bus & Fishing Song - Engineered by Walt Bass
Mastered by - Bernie Grundman
Recorded at Philadelphonic Studios
Photos by Scott Soens
Design by Dave Lively
On THE HUSTLE, troubadour G. Love delivers more of his Bob Dylan/Curtis Mayfield/Beastie Boys amalgam. Although he’s dropped the Special Sauce (the moniker for his backing band on previous releases) in name, bassist Jimi Prescott and drummer Jeffery Clemens (who comprised that combo) appear on THE HUSTLE, adding their loose, jazzy groove to G. Love’s singer/songwriter antics. Love’s wailing harmonica and chunky blues/funk guitar chords flesh out songs that incorporate elements of folk, classic R&B, and rap.
THE HUSTLE makes good on the appealing hybrid pioneered on Love’s self-titled 1994 debut and developed on subsequent albums. As on those records, what most impresses about THE HUSTLE is G. Love’s ability to move fluidly between genres. There’s ‘60s garage pop (“Love”), country-folk picking (“Loving Me”), old-school reggae (“Give It to You”), bossa nova groove (“Two Birds”), and breezy, laid-back jams that evoke a summer afternoon (“Front Porch Lounger”), all unified by G. Love’s literate rhymes and cheeky, street-wise style.