60-Second Critic: G. Love & Special Sauce

G. Love & Special Sauce, Superhero Brother (Brushfire)

On his third studio release in four years, G. Love and his Special Sauce trio have cooked up a stylistically diverse album that never presents anything truly tasty. The keys on “Communication” and horns of “City Livin’” add spice to G’s usually laid-back recipe, but the boilerplate jam “Peace Love & Happiness” could be an outtake from any of his previous efforts, and “Who’s Got The Weed” is a throwaway stoner ramble. Lyrics don’t exactly raise the creative bar, either; the title track is a tongue-in-cheek take on the state of the world with references to Saddam Hussein, Spider-Man, and “the whole cast of Friends.” Here’s hoping for more focus and less weed at the next session. Grade: C-