Omaha Stylee

311 recently came out with a new album and I have to admit that I'm kind of surprised with the results. The last one they put out, Don't Tread On Me, was garbage. I think there was maybe one song I liked on the whole album. But the new one, Uplifter, is not too shabby. They are hyping it as their "hardest album since 311", which is half true. They do crank up the distortion on most of the tracks, even giving Tim Mahoney a metal-ish solo on "Never Ending Summer". However, there are definitely a few tracks that are either slow and soft ("My Heart Sings","Two Drops in the Ocean") or a bit on the pop side ("Too Much Too Fast", "It's Alright", "I Like the Way"). 311 has always had a reggae influence and it pops up alot more these days compared to their early work which had a lot more of SA Martinez rapping.

Even though I've always counted 311 as one my favorite bands as I emerged from the Def Leopard era I have had a hard time totally embracing what they do. They always seem a little too happy. I like my music dark and depressing and full of self-loathing. Ahhh, the early 90s. Those were some good times. So you have all those grunge dudes being one bad trip away from killing themselves and then you have 311 who just seem to be... I don't know... having fun? I guess that's cool. They hang out in the Bahamas, smoke weed, and sing about everybody getting along. It hasn't always been my style but I guess since I am 30 now I can lose the angst. Otherwise I'll have to go and listen to some of that emo garbage that the kids like so much.

So, I think I've gone completely off track. The point is that after about 5 or 6 years only putting out crap it was kind of nice to get a decent album from them. Give it a listen. If you don't mind a little cheese you might be surprised. And who doesn't like cheese?