Everything You Need

More than four years after 1998's THE LONGEST BARREL RIDE, the Southern California stoner/surf-punk group Slightly Stoopid returned with the studio outing EVERYTHING YOU NEED. While largely grounded in a reggae-pop vibe (see the anti-authority tune "Officer" and a breezy cover of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane"), the album also acknowledges Stoopid's more revved-up past with the fast-paced three-chord numbers "Perfect Gentleman" and "Punk Rock Billy." Though naturally not a highbrow affair, EVERYTHING YOU NEED stands out as one of Slighty Stoopid's more dynamic and immediately accessible albums, and works as a good introduction to the band's pot-centric brand of party music.