Santa Cruz Metro, May 2007

300 Pound has released its third album, this one a super-sized EP befitting the band's obese moniker, titled The Emmeryville Project. Recordings, however, are fleeting; live shows are forever. That's the case with this bass-heavy sound anyway, which loses a lot of its bouncing rollick in the mix and leaves the thin vocals of ringmaster Nate Lieby and gut-picker Pecos too exposed to the elements. In person, the grooves are infectious enough to overwhelm the singing, and that's just fine. The point here is to dance, not size people up for entry into Julliard. Also playing are Stormy Strong and the Audiophiliacs - the latter being adorable and, at best, progenitors of the kind of noodly-appendage granola dancing that made the '90s seem almost fun. All free!