Slightly Stoopid review - 'Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid'

Even if you're not one of Slightly Stoopid's fans (and judging from MySpace there are a lot of them out there), you should know what you are going to get from the title of this CD of 'outtakes, rarities and a couple of new joints'.

Indeed, in that respect, 'Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid' doesn't disappoint - efficient and proficient dub/ska/stoner jams, drenched in the California sunshine and liberal helpings of weed - though the band are clearly that peculiarly American breed of stoner who are fearsomely focussed on business.

No criticism this, it has allowed them to preserve their amiably shuffling music whilst playing a whole load of American dates, and I mean a load, producing a large back catalogue, and developing an impressive on-line presence.

But here's the problem with weed - if you're stoned, then a little bit of dubby bass, offbeat chops and the odd overdriven guitar solo is all it takes to make you very happy indeed. Throw in some cute and well-designed on-line gizmos ('Stoopid Search and Win - Search the Web and Win Prizes'), and you have all you need to reel 'em in. Rebellion 2.0 ('all we need is good sensie' - "No Cocaine").

But then, there's stoner jams and stoner jams; if the dubby bass is proper, if the chops are sharp, then they do their work whether you are stoned or not. And whilst some of the tracks on the CD only promise to kick off before wandering away apologetically ("I Would Do For You", "Thinkin Bout Cops"), and one is just plain terrible cheesy hell ("On and On"), others are well, not quite righteous, but pretty damn good ("London Dub", "Train 1").

This outtake CD then, like all outtake CDs, is patchy, mopping up the stuff which didn't make it onto earlier releases. But Slightly Stoopid are nothing if not prolific (if the band are to be believed, much of the material here comes from the sessions for their latest 'proper' release which generated 'forty to fifty' songs), and are building up their growing reputation on the back of incessant touring, which is exactly how it should be.

One for the fans, then, this; the slightly sceptical Stoopid neophyte is no doubt advised to check out their earlier releases such as 'Acoustic Roots' or 'Closer to the Sun' (or perhaps just light up a fat one and go with the flow).

Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast on amazon.com
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Slightly Stoopid Myspace
Slightly Stoopid Official Website

By: Jim Driscoll

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