Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

When Was/NotWas was releasing CDs with some semblance of regularity I used to get really cheesed off about the fact that they could put out great, fat funky tracks and then follow them up with musical armpit farts, stupid juvenility that would bring whatever groove and momentum they had established to a screeching halt. So, here comes Bullfrog, from Montreal no less (and I'm wondering if the name of the band is a little bit of subtle self-deprecation), and pulls the same crap. I mean, "Ya Ya" comes off like Sly Stone meets Dr. John, a killer track with a little found sound in the middle, and it's followed up by "Ababa," which sounds like The Meters produced by G. Love, I mean, this shit smokes. So you can imagine my reaction to the oral masturbation of "Reverse Psychology," which is almost ---almost --- redeemed by the cool groove which eventually opens up underneath it. Further ground is lost during "Massimo's Wild Wilderness," which is saved from total wretchedness only by 1) the fact that it can put you in the mind of the undeservedly little-heard Ben Sidran and 2) the funky left turn it does halfway through the track, long after the damage is done. "Shine" marks the nadir of the abyss of the CD, but things begin to turn around a bit with "Snakeskin," a freaky, funky bit of hip-hop whose somewhat irritating vocal is overwhelmed by a great, if fundamental groove. Things hit a wall, however, with "Slow Down," which sounds like it was recorded with John Sebastian being backed up by the Muppets. Actually, I like both of them, but not together. Never together.

"Hotel Food" could have been on SUPERNATURAL, I suppose, but it wasn't. And it really shouldn't be on here, being a decent but ultimately half-hearted and ill-advised attempt at a bit of cubanissimo. "Nice Try" is just that, straight-ahead hip-hop, not bad, maybe a little War-influenced, which can never be bad, but Kid Koala, unfortunately, comes off like he's auditioning as the next coming of Del The Funky HomoSapien. By the time Bullfrog reaches the end of the CD with "Mark after Dark," they sound as if they're hardly trying.

I'm not ready to give up on these guys, especially on the strength of the first couple of tracks here. I'm hoping that they'll get some focus and really kick things into gear. They've definitely got some chops. The question which remains to be answered is whether they will get to the point where they consistently use them