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Family Force 5's CD delivers funky punk

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Also by Stacey Nathan:

Harper shows Both Sides on latest (March 23, 2006)
Rascal Flatts' latest mocks country, dumps twangy roots (April 6, 2006)
Family Force 5's CD delivers funky punk (April 7, 2006)
Buckcherry breaks lengthy hiatus (April 21, 2006)
Outkast's newest decent, not great (September 7, 2006)

by Stacey Nathan

Friday, April 7, 2006

Family Force 5's debut album Business up Front/Party in the Back doesn't exactly sound promising. With a title like that, one is left wondering one thing: Does anyone in the band have a mullet? Surprisingly, the answer is no, but according to their first single, "Kountry Gentleman," they come from "the land where the mullet attacks."

Another surprise: the album is actually decent! It's a strange yet mesmerizing combination of rap, rock, punk and funk. It's somewhat in the same vein as old Red Hot Chili Peppers, but not exactly. It's almost like something you've never heard before. People often use the term unique, but what they're looking at or listening to probably isn't. Family Force 5 is.

Formed two years ago in Atlanta, the group is comprised of three brothers — Solomon "Soul Glow Activator," Jacob "Crouton" and Joshua "Phatty" Olds — along with Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin and Derke "Chap Stique" Mount.

Family Force 5 uses its upbringing in the "Dirrty South" as inspiration for its music. Hotlanta is a hotbed of music activity, having bred such artists as Ludacris, Outkast and REM. It is no surprise that being raised there had such a lasting impact on the band. In "Kountry Gentleman," the band members take jabs at where they grew up by comically rapping, "Mama, what you got cookin' up in that kitchen? / Cookin' fried chicken? / You know I love that soul food / Everything you cook is so good / For a southern man like me / You gotta cook it up clean, cook it up mean. / Mama don't like it when you got leftovers. / Gimme some of them collard greens."

The band refused to take several commercial offers before agreeing to a contract with Maverick, which allowed them to straddle the line of rock and Christianity. Strangely enough, people would probably never know this was their objective solely by listening to the album. Family Force 5 appears to have left thoughts of religion behind, replacing them with visions of partying all night as rock gods.

"Replace Me," which is supposed to be a song of surrender, sounds more like a song about a girl. "Peachy" is the only song in which the religious overtones are semi-obvious, preaching the idea of discovering faith — not necessarily Christianity. If Christian rock isn't really your thing, don't let that put you off and prevent you from listening to Family Force 5. They aren't as religious as you might think.

The rest of the songs are moderately juvenile. One gets this impression just by looking at the spelling of the song titles, with tracks like "Cadillac Phunque" and "X-Girlfriend." The sheer amount of misspellings rivals Usher's 8701 and songs like "U Remind Me." However, it's not as bothersome with Family Force 5 as with Usher, because you know the band is just trying to have fun. After all, they mock themselves as well as where they grew up through the entirety of Business up Front/Party in the Back.

Despite the misspellings, the aforementioned songs are actually quite enjoyable. "Cadillac Phunque" starts off the album with a strong rock feel reminiscent of Kid Rock. It has a perfect combination of rapping, singing and harmonic vocals. On "X-Girlfriend," Solomon shows that not only can he rap as quickly as Sean Paul, but sing like Chris Martin — even if it is with the help of a distorter and only for a few seconds.

"Drama Queen" is another humorous song, and though the lyrics sound like they might belong on a Disney Channel Movie, listeners will find themselves caught up in the tenacious tempo and catchy chorus of "You go and talk behind my back / Don't you know that's whack? / It's a personal attack / Oh snap! / Some friend you are to me / Ur Miss Personality / Are you blind to see / Ur such a drama queen."

So if you feel the desire to dance or just to have a good time, Family Force 5's Business up Front/Party in the Back is the perfectly original blend of musical genres to fill that need. Don't miss your chance to see, hear and experience the righteous crunk rock that Family Force 5 can bring to your life. It's not the defining album of the decade, but it provides a few laughs and some overall decent music.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Anonymous (April 7, 2006 @ 7:02am):

These guys are the best live stage act I've seen on the club level.

Google their name and it will lead you to their myspace page along with videos and streaming audio of the songs mentioned above.

I find it interesting at what a difficult time the reviewers have at labeling this band. Are they Christian? Are they Rock, Punk, Funk, Rap?

I call them "Stealth Christian". The reviewer might think that "Replace Me" 'sounds like a song about a girl', and that is well and good. But at the appropriate Divine appointment time in someone's life they'll listen to that song and hear it for what it is and understand it's meaning. The light will click on and a revelation will hit them full force. Family Force 5 will have accomplished it's mission at that point.