311
Soundsystem
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311 is the card number for Mark McGwire’s 1985 Topps rookie card. 311 is the Omaha police code for indecent exposure. 311 does not stand for KKK (an ill-intentioned rumor based on the 11th letter of the alphabet). Most importantly, 311 are the 5-million-plus-record-selling, arena-filling, happy hip-hop rockers from Nebraska.

Compare them to Sublime. Compare them to Red Hot Chili Peppers. But, you’ll find that 311 are not exactly like any other band these days.

311 are about nine albums and eleven years deep into the sound they helped pioneer. Hip-hop and rock meld into record label lava now, with album sales from acts like Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, and Sugar Ray flowing like the hot red stuff. DJs scratch over guitar distortion. Melodic choruses break up rap lyrics. But no one does it quite like 311.

The band’s latest release, Soundsystem, maintains this amalgamation of rap and rock with equal stamina. This time, it sounds like the fivesome has turned up guitarist Tim Mahoney’s amp, returning to heavy metal and punk roots.

Singer Nick Hexum says the album "is loud guitars and loud drums. It’s probably the most rock album we’ve made." Indeed, on Soundsystem, 311 add morsels of dominating hard rock influences to their signature sound soup, which is equal parts reggae, hip-hop, rock, and funk.

It’s been two years since we last got a studio release from the Nebraska fivesome. And the band spent the past year in the studio with their renowned, high-energy live show in mind. They considered how the songs would be recreated on stage for the band’s extensive, ongoing tour to promote the CD.

"Life’s Not A Race" features guitar lines reminiscent of Carlos Santana and daydream vocal stylings reminiscent of Beastie Boys’ "Mark on the Bus." "Sought a chill-out mix to / Carve some space / To make you wanna listen / It’s a bubblin’ spring and /Double in kings of / This Soundsystem." Beastie influences turn up on several other tracks, as DJ SA Martinez and Hexum trade off rap-style lyrics on tracks like "Can’t Fade Me." They deem themselves "scientists" as the Beasties have.

311 indulge in a Bob Marley fantasy on "Leaving Babylon," which relies on Wailer-esque synthesizers and rock-steady guitar flow. Reggae guitar rhythms also pulse through tracks like "Strong All Along."

On "Come Original," the album’s first single, the cornhuskers give themselves a little pat on the back for their hard-earned reputation, as well as due praise to the Black Eyed Peas and NOFX as well as junglist Roni Size. They remind us, "The name is 311 and you know it ain’t easy."

The opening track "Freeze Time" joins "Come Original" in energy and instant appeal. "Eons" is a heavy three-blind-mice-type melody as Hexum sing-songs, "See how we roll / See how we roll." The boys release a final burst of punk fervor on the last track "Livin’ & Rockin’."

Hexum and SA take a laid-back tone in delivering the band’s simplistic spin on the world, focusing on positivity. That notion could reflect the quaintness of the band’s Omaha, Nebraska upbringing, or it could be an answer, as Hexum says, "to balance out all the bad vibes, the anger, and the bad news in the world."

On their web site, the band explains what the name 311 has come to mean for them, "five friends from Omaha making music."

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