It's a good thing that there aren't enough labels out there to accurately cover everything in entertainment. If everything out there were to fit into a predetermined set of categories, there'd be no need for those of us obsessive about our music to own more than a hundred or so compact discs. After all, that would surely be enough to cover all of the conventional musical genres with a little room left over. But what a boring world it would be if all albums were locked into a few dozen finite genres. Sure, we'd have our solid rock groups, out jazz combos, our country stars (both classic and contemporary), our pop idols, and rap stars, and few other, but we'd lose out on the joy of those genre defying experimentalists like Beck, Talking Heads, Devo, Lou Reed, or They Might Be Giants. Such artists fell in the gaps between genres, and never fail to surprise and astound us.

For those as yet unfamiliar with him, we can add Garett Dutton to the list. The name might not ring too many bells at first, but perhaps his stage name, G. Love, will. He and his band Special Sauce had a hit about a decade ago with Baby's Got Sauce. They helped to put the Philly soul scene on the map, but that's not what we're here for now. Ten years after he stepped onto the major label stage, G. Love is back with his sixth album, The Hustle, and hoo baby, is it a style blending, genre-defying delight.

So just what is The Hustle? Is it mostly funk, largely soul, or mainly pop? Is there jazz, hip-hop, or straight ahead rock? How about blues, folk, or restrained singer-songwriter tunes? In a word, yes. The Hustle slides effortless among all of these styles, usually blending three of four of them together in each particular track. It's a formula that could easily lead to a muddled mess, but Love portions everything out with the precision of a gourmet chef, making sure that every element complements every other without ever getting in the way.

Of all the musical moods that Love embraces here, the most striking is a heavy sense of funk mixed with white-boy hip-hop á la the Beastie Boys. Astronaut opens the album with a sonic assault of reverb drenched upright bass grooves from Jimi Prescott, and brassy cymbal riffing from Jeffery Clemens. What really makes the song stand out, though, are the sharp, staccato chords from Love's National Steel guitar, with its distinctive resonant twang. As love and his band jam out to an R&B funk strong enough to make Reverend Shaw Moore himself get up and dance, Love lets loose with a half spoken, half sung lyrical flow with verses like:

♬ some of these days, despite all the things that are in my head
some of these days, I love you despite all the shit you said
tumbleweeds, rollin' on, rollin' around this town
I'm blasting off, I don't even think I can hang around ♬

The unique feel continues on Don't Drop It!, with a similar sound on the guitar and upright bass, but adding some sharp fills on the harmonica and the Hammond organ to enhance the soulful funk. Love continues his smirking bravado in the lyrics, as he flows with:

♬ this is how we kick it, and this is how we do it
this original style's mine, so why would you ruin it?
so you that that the G was all washed up
but this ring around the collar is so damn tough ♬

Love and company do know when to pull back on the reigns, though. On songs like Front Porch Lounger and Stone Me, the group conjure up a set of simple singer-songwriter arrangements that can't fail to relax and soothe. Loving Me and Sunshine even smooth things down to such a gentle acoustic guitar and brushed drum rhythm that it evokes memories of Bob Dylan's early folk recordings.

One of the most striking aspects of The Hustle is how well the songs, as they bounce from style to style, conjure up reflections of other great artists without ever feeling like a cheap copy. Two Birds hums with the jazzy glow of Blue Turtles era Sting, while The Hustle shows flashes of Jimi Hendrix's slower, more pensive tunes. The laid back rhythms of Give It To You remind us of a host of tropical reggae-pop stars, thanks in no small part to the song's guest guitarist Jack Johnson (whose personal record label, Brushfire Records, is responsible for The Hustle). Love, one of several stand out tracks on the album, is pure pop in the classic tradition, and would sound right at home among Help! era Beatles songs, with it's exuberant energy, subtly complex chords changes, sharp guitar soloing, and endearing lyrics that we can easily forgive for any shallowness they may contain:

♬ I wanna see boys and girls across the land
take each other by the hand
and start dancin'
yeah... love! ♬

Sure, there's less substance there than in a serving of cotton candy, but its far more sweet and enjoyable. Another of the stand out tracks, Boooty Call, evokes the same swamp blues of Mungo Jerry, full of loose harmonica, honky-tonk piano, and bouncy, circular bass rhythm. And yes, I realize that few people will recall the name Mungo Jerry, but I'm willing to bet that just about everyone remembers their one hit, In the Summer Time. Booty Call, as its name might suggest, is every bit as unapologetically misogynistic as In the Summer Time, and is likewise every bit as fun and enjoyable.

As I noted earlier, The Hustle never feels like a hastily assembled hodgepodge of unrelated tracks and styles. There's a feeling of connectedness that runs throughout, with elements like Love's gritty vocals, the tempered twang of harmonica and steel guitar, or the solid, layered production of the music to tie everything into a neat package. G. Love is truly an artist that can play any position on the field, and The Hustle really showcases his breadth.

I must confess before wrapping things up that I'm a relative newcomer to G. Love. I've heard a few of his bigger songs before, most notably Baby's Got Sauce and Rodeo Clown, but The Hustle is the first album of his I've ever picked up. I can't say how well it rises to the expectations set forth by his previous works, but I can say that in a perfect world, this album would be a breakout hit that'll win over a whole new audience to his particular brand of hip, bluesy funk-pop. At the very least, it'll satisfy the hungers of those looking for something that's fallen between the cracks of the conventional genre labels.

Recommended: Yes