Free Radicals can't really be categorized. There's some jazz, sure, but plenty of funk, reggae and whatever else this Houston collective decides to do. So why not crank out a 23-track set of hip-hop, poetry and semi-sung musings about our nation?

Free Radicals White Power Outage Vol. 1 (self-released)

Those unfamiliar with the group will probably get the gist of these pieces from the album title. There are also songs like "America Is a Lie", "Already Guilty", "Deepwater Horizon", etc. Free Radicals create unique sonic backings for each piece (which features a different vocalist or vocalists) and manage to generally avoid polemic territory.

It is the diversity of sound on this album that knocks me out. Yes, the words are the point, but this would be a ponderous set without the playful and skillful music. Leave it to Free Radicals to make leftist musings fun again. Sure, I'm already partial to that sort of thing. But my goodness, these songs cook.

Too diverse to be particularly cohesive or drive home a few select points (unlike, say, RTJ 4), this album nonetheless has captured one of the most important parts of our summer of protest: America is a messy, complicated place. We don't look alike, think alike or live alike--but we all deserve to be treated alike by the powers that be. Don't be afraid to dance while you ponder.

Jon Worley