We have enjoyed San Francisco's 4-man Hookslide's dynamic live show at Harmony Sweep's Regional competitions, at the A Cappella Summit and many local venues. "Bump it Up " is the group's third, and features some excellent original material on these 14 cuts, notably group member Paul Anderson's "Whatcha Wanna Do," "Way Past Down," "Superfriend" (written with group beatboxer Jon Pilat), the silly, sassy "Mr. Funky" (co-written by Anderson and tenor Mayank Thanawala, who personally wrote "Two Ways Out"). Covers of the Doobies' "Long Train Running," Chris Robinson's "Ride," Led Zep's "No Quarter," Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," Cake's "Love You Madly" and The Trammps' "Disco Inferno." "Bump it up" is high-energy, fun stuff-an impressive third from local favorites Hookslide!

Songlist: Watcha Wanna Do, Long Train Running, Way Past Down, Ride, Superfriend, No Quarter, Higher Ground, Two Ways Out, Try A Little Tenderness, Love You Madly, Mr. Funky, Disco Inferno, I Just Want To Celebrate, Apache Wedding Prayer

Hookslide : Original Spin   

We've seen Daly City, CA all-male quartet Hook Slide at a West Coast Summit and a couple of Harmony Sweepstakes Regionals, including the 2002 Regional where they missed going to the finals by the smallest of margins. What we saw was a charismatic, talented group with an energetic, beautifully choreographed stage show and a winning combination of covers and excellent material written and arranged by the group. Listening to their debut CD "Original" only reinforces our opinion that Hookslide is going places! Included are mostly songs by the group: "It's You," "Needed More," "Don't Let Me Go," Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me," "What Sin," "Tossed," "Make A Right," "Maybe Next Time," "Waiting," "My Hidden Wish," the driving, manic "Overreacting," a brilliant arrangement of Aerosmith's "Dream On" and "Funkbus." Paul Anderson, Mayank Thanawala, Jonathan Pilat and George Hoffman have a knack of writing and arranging to the strengths of the group, especially Jon's vocal percussion. The liner notes are beautiful and include all the words to the original songs-which is good, because Original Spin" is the kind of CD we'll want to listen to a few times to fully appreciate! 

Songlist: It's You, Needed More, Don't Let Me Go, Don't You Forget About Me, What Sin, Tossed, Make A Right, Maybe Next Time, Waiting, My Hidden Wish, Overreacting, Dream On, Funkbus