SEV are a band that stick to a formula and make it work. The music and style could be somewhat compared to the likes of 311 or 2 Skinnee J's but it's definitely got enough of it's own swagger to keep itself distinguished. The music ranges from a bit of a heavy hip hop feel with tightly involved reggae, ska and funk influences to of all things even a bit of a hint of spaghetti western and just a thick laid-back groove. The vocalist's Phil and Danny eagerly combine their flows together animatedly criss-crossing between each other providing a very entertaining forefront to the music. Emotion is used but not in the tried and true method of anger and angst, instead it's used to motivate the listener to get off their ass and get up jumping around. A closer look at their emceeing skill's could even suggest that they grew up on a heavy diet of 80's hip hop and a side dish of 80's cheese pop as a bit of this is emulated to in their vocal styling at times. Guitar work can range from experimental to ska to the very interesting western/mariachi type feel of some of the riffs played on a few cuts. The bass is continually smooth slipping and sliding along providing what seems to be the spine of the music and the drums are consistently driving the rhythm keeping it steady on it's course. The band is definitely not afraid to write a complex song as their material usually consists of multiple different parts and song structure changes, this is a very welcome edition to the music that they craft. A definitive wide array of musical ground is covered throughout this CD, the band does at times experiment with a bit of tribal drumming and a bit of electronic and sampling styles and one can't help but feel that this could easily be meshed in to a more pertinent level and make the music that much more involved. Also the band all to often stick's to it's formulated groove which in turn constrains it as much as it enhances it, this tends to make me feel if they branched off just a bit more that they would be that much intense for it. Standout tracks would be "Techno", the CD's opener which showcases a potent grinding riff draped with a blast of lyrics constantly being traded off between the bands two vocalist's and "Who's Got The Mic?" which exhibit's the laid back full on groove the band can ooze when the song calls for it. Other unexpected highlight's include their raucous cover of Insane Clown Posse's "Chicken Huntin'" and some hilarious prank phone calls. SEV is a band that doesn't come wearing the all to typical veil of anger or anguish that so many bands hide behind as of late, instead emotion and intensity are intricately woven deeply into the groove driven musical wall of sound they construct, which in turn purveys a more powerful sound than most of the pissed off bands out there. You can almost assuredly expect to hear more from this band in the near future.
(4 / 5)