Pump up the Volumizer

The 2 Skinnee J's are one of rap-rock's best kept secrets, which may explain why their live shows are still such an experience. The comfortable crowd size is great, but it's not only their fans that make them so special. It's not the homemade spacemen uniforms or razor-sharp choreography, either-it's the fact that these boys just have so much damn energy that it literally infects the crowd, bringing their own fantasy world to the masses, where every kid is a champion and every fan a potential Skinnee soldier. Constantly on tour and perpetually enlisting new recruits to bombard radio stations with requests for their songs, these guys are some of the hardest working men in show business.

Somewhere between performing and perfecting their on-stage grooves, the boys found time to record a new album, Volumizer, which hit stores this Tuesday. The album is the followup to 1998's Supermercado, the band's first major-label album after being picked up from Raleigh-based Deep South Records.

Volumizer boasts Skinnee's typical lyrical genius. This time, their rhymes are backed up by some special guest artists. The drummer from the band Incubus is featured on one track and DJ Swamp (turntable wizard behind Beck's Midnite Vultures) guests on three different songs. On top of that, they've got Mickey Petralia, the producer who spent 18 months behind the boards for Midnite Vultures.

You might think that the outside influence would change the Skinnees' style in some weird way, making their oddball galactic lyrics seem out of place amidst all the collaboration. But the music remains consistent, coupled with lyrics such as "Like Shakespeare does a sonnet, I'm on it / Slave to her affection like gramps to gin and tonic." And you can't help but like a band who try to raise their fans' collective IQ by dictionary links to the album's "big words" on their web site. With Volumizer, mic men J. Guevara and Special J., along with the rest of the J's and a few friends, have another Skinnee success. While it may not compare to one of their live shows, Volumizer pumps it up for those who can't devote their lives to full-time Skinnee Soldierdom. The 2 Skinnee J's will be playing at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem this Sunday, so if you've got the energy to hang on for the ride, go check them out.