Sunny Ledfurd deliver a truthful pairing of rap, metal and groove on this sampler that has enough heart to win over even the most jaded listener with its undeniable charm. Rhymes and punk song reminiscent singalongs come spread over soulful basslines, clock work percussion and searing guitars. Basic elements of the rapcore genre are implemented, but are combined with a mellowed punk rock mentality and headstrong instrumental progressions. Vocally the music is a bit rough, a harsh scratchy voice leads the way for the most part with a very downtrodden feel as it guides through spoken word like raps that flow at a moderate pace and eventually coalesce into croons and howls reminiscent of a slower Nofx song. Lyrically though the music lacks significant creativity and feels a bit disjointed and rough around the edges. Guitarwise there's a fair amount of effects and interesting riffage that comes on strong with a medium tuning and scratchy distortion as the parts strafe throughout the music going through everything from wah soaked strums and distorted chords to the occasional effect coated sonic experimentation. Bass is headstrong with drawn out hip hop bluesy grooves that loiter throughout the background with a slight stalker mentality. There's a lot of lowend dynamics involved within the playing, along with a catchy style that loosely adheres itself to the percussion. Drums are consistent with a strict snare/high hat style and rarely dabble with any extreme variation, yet they tend to fit the music snugly as the combination created between them and the bass makes for a fortified musical contribution. The band shows a good deal of talent and an unquestionable genuine feel within the music that is quite intoxicating, well crafted song structure and good usage of basic instrumental dynamics are in place and round out the sound well. A few things that tend to downplay the band though is the overall simplicity, on paper this should be a quite boring band as they do things that don't sound inherently groundbreaking, yet after a few listens to the disc, the groups charming sound easily wins the listener over with its rich passion and overall authentic feel. Lyrically through the band does needs a bit of work, as the words spoken are very open and a bit unrefined, a bit of polish on them could really enhance the groups dexterity and create a more immersive auditory dimension. As it stands though, Sunny Ledfurd are somewhat of an oddity, a band using a style done by many, yet are more than able to give it a fresh feel with a jolt of groove and a shot of true heart and soul, there's even a bit of piano and g-funk styled keyboard loops that all come drenched in a genuine vibe that encompasses everything laid down on this disc, and that alone has enough strength to push this act close to the top of the pack, but with a bit more inventiveness and gloss this band could easily go way beyond that.
(4 / 5)