Review: Sweet Diezel Jenkins – 2.0: Mixed, Mashed and Covered
Artist: Sweet Diezel Jenkins
Album: “2.0” Mixed, Mashed, & Covered
Rating: 5/5
Many of you may remember Znowhite, who released their debut full-length album, Act of God on Roadrunner Records in 1988. The band’s guitarist, Greg Fulton (known by his stage name, Ian Tafoya) created quite the unique project in 2012. The idea? Simple. Take popular songs, mash them up, throw some funky, soulful flavor into it and make sure the crowd/listener is having fun! I have to admit, upon first listen, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. However, after the first listen of their debut EP, “2.0: Mixed, Mashed and Covered”, I was incredibly impressed.
The EP starts out with “You Give Love A Bad Name” (of course, a Bon Jovi cover), but about a minute or so in, “Baby Got Back” comes in, followed by “Billie Jean” and finally rounds back off to “You Give Love A Bad Name”. Just in the first track, you really get the essence of what this band is and how they roll. But that’s only the beginning, for the next track is even better. “Smells Like the Thong Song”… sounds like a bad “Weird Al” song, right? Well, you may be right but it’s also quite clever. The band starts off with the incredibly familar opening riff to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, but the lyrics are Sisqo’s “Thong Song”, the all-too-well known 90s hit. But the most fun part of this track is when “California Girls” (Katy Perry) comes in, followed by “Ride With Me” (Nelly).
You can absolutely tell that this band loves what they do. If you’re a fan of fun, funky music that will get you out of your seat and off your feet, you definitely want to check them out! But that isn’t the end, the last track “Lollipop” is a mash-up between Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”, mixed with the riffage from “Back in Black” (AC/DC) and “Wanted (Dead or Alive)” (Bon Jovi)… making for a great ending to a very fun EP.
