Josh Martinez

This Raggadeth-style project helmed by rapper Josh Martinez has been five years in the making, with a self-titled track appearing as early as 2004 on Camo Bear compilation New Recruits. "P.O.W." also appears here, in a slightly filled-out version, and happens to be one of the most creative of the ten songs that make up The Pissed Off Wild. Josh Martinez has flirted with singing on hip-hop tracks in the past, and his nasal, fast-paced raps are able to match the speed of the faster rock songs, so it's kind of a no-brainer that the artsy, hippy rapper would front a band. And the Pissed Off Wild are certainly a good rock band when it comes to the hard jams, but the album sounds kind of generic. Josh Martinez is a creative individual who should be backed by better than nu-metal, bluesy rock, boring ballads and the occasional funk jam. Imagine Martinez with a backing band as dynamic as Sole's Skyrider Band or 13 & God's Notwist. That said, "Cheeseburger 23," "Miracle Worker" and especially "Hawaii" get the head banging and the devil horns raised, so maybe more metal and hard rock are all this collaboration really need. Yeah, it might be veering dangerously close to frat boy rock-rap, at times, but at least there's a pretence to add some intelligence (and left-wing politics) to the "punch you in the mouth" lyrics, and Martinez has the chops to deliver the rap goods vocally. But The Pissed Off Wild is nothing more than an interesting diversion that results in a handful of keepers, one that is hopefully out of his system so he can get back to making fun, forward-thinking hip-hop with slight pop appeal. The band breaking up should help.