It's not terribly surprising that G. Love and Special Sauce were tapped to fill in for Sugar Ray when the band dropped out of Woodstock '99. It's not simply because of the smooth, muscle-shirted frontmen, but also because the same kind of easy soul, funk, and rap influences wash over their stronger cuts. The calypsolike "Rodeo Clowns" on Philadelphonic feeds on that radio-friendly vibe, all sunshine and broken hearts. Unfortunately, that cut is one of the few high points this time out. While it's nice to see G. Love step away from emulating Will Smith, which sank Yeah, It's That Easy, the answer to stronger material is not to try and channel Jamiroquai through Love's nasal Philly-soaked stoner raps ("Dreamin'"). But even more than that, this boy needs to get away from spacey soul jams, and fast--"Relax" sounds like G. fell asleep with a mouthful of syrup and woke up in love.

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