Learning to ride a bike, the first day of kindergarten, first prom night. These are all pinnacle points in a child’s life that proud parent’s witness as their offspring grows and evolves as a person. Having heard Bop Skizzum over a year ago, the boys are getting in sync (no, not the Timberlake kind), venturing outside their own box of soul, funk, and booty blasting rock and roll.
The group is doing a better job of blending their horns into their other organics instead of having them overpower their sound as they did in the past. Today they emerge from the shoot with more sizzling Skizzum than Bop, widening the drawstring on their bag of musical tools and tricks. The wind instruments still blow hard on tracks like “Friend Island”, but it’s Andy Guerrero’s vocal progress and strength that crosses the line into alternative rock territory (using an alternative reference that dates back to the 90’s, since it’s unclear today what the hell alternative really means anymore).
The powerhouse sound charges forward on “Hate Sickness” with a mosh pit of vintage keys, snarling guitar, and ska-tish horns, then things get a little retro synth on the intro to “Get The Good One”, with a permeation of electronic drum sprinkles. I could have probably done without the high school, Blink 182 antithesis of the male ego, story telling on “I’m So Much Cooler Than Your Boyfriend”, and maybe that’s why they put it as the last track. Who knows.
Bop Skizzum’s average age is around 22, but the boys have grown to a musical level that would fool anyone into thinking they’ve been doing this for ten years or more. If you check out the group picture on their web site www.bop-skizzum.com, it looks like they have been at it since the second graders. Having a sense of humor and survival skills anyone in the music needs to have has paid off as they move beyond their legal issues with a previous producer, which held up the release of this album by months. I’m not sure if that was the inspiration, or frustration, behind the album’s title. But the waiting’s over, and I think these kids are going to be more than alright.
