1994's Grassroots put them on the map as a must have funk/rap/punk outfit, but 311 decided to travel the galaxy for this year's self titled album. "Gray" alien icons and diagrams of the moon landing are displayed prominently on the cover, and inside, planets dot the landscape along with a Chili Pepper-esque picture of the band with alien eye make-up on. Fortunately, the space theme is pretty much left out of the album itself. "Random" starts to wax philosophical about space aliens, but then it thankfully turns into a lesson on love and playlists.
The new album zigs and zags through many turns that keep your head pumping and your speakers thumping. First of all, the band is expanding their simple funk and rap. Although "Down" starts out the album with the same old 311, there is a new spirit in 311 right up until when the last track, "T & P Combo", blasts out the funk with fury, dynamics, change-ups, and melody. The songwriting has definitely improved, and the band is doing better with the slower songs. "Sweet" is a psychedelic and sad ballad about a disillusioned friend, and "Don't Stay Home" is a melodic wake up call to the hopeless hermits of the world.
Lyrically, 311 is taking on deeper topics than how dope their rhymes are. "Guns (are for pussies)" lays out just what its title proclaims. Later, they take aim at violence against women. "If you hurt her again, I'll fuck you up, fuck you up" is the rap tag of "DLMD". Both "Guns (are for pussies)" and "DLMD" flow better than your average "crusade" song because they don't preach. Nicholas Hexum and Count SA write lyrics that read like true stories of pain and anger, and it's the honesty that makes their emotions stick.
Like Grassroots, the new 311 album touches heavily on drug use. On some songs, it sounds as is the band has really cleaned up. In "Misdirected Hostility", they slam some other band for being heroin addicts and then say "I speak from experience/because I didn't see clearly once/acting like a dunce/In 1989 I was cocaine and Jim Bean/but now it's '95 and I'm ginseng." But don't think that Nancy Reagan has gotten to the band. They're only on a spirituality trip that is geared to calmer, less addicting drugs. Two songs later, "Loco" turns up the funky rhythms and proceeds to explain how to "trip the 'shrooms fantastic".
With their new self-titled album, 311 seems to have finally defined the 311 experience. It's not a big leap from Grassroots, but it is in the right direction. They've gotten out of the "sounds like Rage" or "sounds like the Peppers" umbrella and matured to a sound with more melody and more variety.
