LIGHT POLES AND PINE TREES - FIELD MOB
Northern artists have complained that trite Southern songs have topped the charts at their expense. Southern outfit Field Mob offers something different with “Light Poles and Pine Trees.” The group’s first album on Ludacris’ Disturbing Tha Peace label does have the obligatory strip track (”Baby Bend Over”), regional shout-out “Area Code 229″ and an ode to their rides (”My Wheels”). But “Poles” gets interesting when lyricists Shawn Jay and Smoke share a piece of themselves. On “Blacker the Berry,” Smoke talks about society’s color complex and always being the darkest kid in the room over a slice of 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up.” Elsewhere, “At the Park” is a mellow barbecue track with rolling guitars and a catchy chorus. While Smoke and Shawn Jay aren’t the rebirth of OutKast, the pair does give the South a solid chance at lyrical redemption. Billboard
