The foundation for the groovy music--which references not only Prince and Funkadelic but Burt Bacharach and Philly-style soul--is built on live bass, drums, guitars and keyboards.
The CD was released by the vanity label overseen by Pete Wentz of the pop-punk Fall Out Boy; that band's lead singer, Patrick Stump, co-produced the recording. Gym Class Heroes have toured and shared the stage with such alternative rock acts as The Academy Is ... , whose frontman William Beckett, croons the chorus on "7 Weeks."
Although McCoy spends most of the album in lovelorn/horndog mode--the epitome of which is "New Friend Request," in which unrequited love is updated for the MySpace age--he accomplishes this without any allusions to pimping or hos.
He also tackles a few other subjects, such as on the opener "The Queen and I," in which his protagonist expresses deep concern for a girlfriend's alcoholism. Ten songs in, McCoy finally picks up the hip-hop battle cudgel on "Biters Block" (featuring guest rapper Speech), which serves as a great example of how he maintains an abstract indie-rap flow while slipping into a harder style like that of Kanye West or Jay-Z.
