Whole Wheat Bread

Punk Life EP

[3/5] Whole Wheat Bread’s 2005 debut, Minority Rules, proved that the all-black Jacksonville, Florida-based trio were much more than a cross-cultural novelty-the group could play Green Day-esque white-boy punk as good as any, um, white boy. And there was more: The three hip-hop bonus tracks on Minority hinted at future genre blending, so it’s only logical that Punk Life, WWB’s new EP, further obliterates any remaining racial constructs existing in their music. Featuring three new punk-styled originals and three crunky remakes of “Dirty South” classics (with new verses written by the band), Punk Life offers a bit of the familiar (pop-punky opener “206”) and something a little more ghetto-dangerous, like the retread of Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared,” complete with a chorus riff straight outta Metallica’s “Creeping Death.” When both worlds fuse into one-notably on the politically charged “Symbol Of Hope”-WWB’s full scene-blurring wizardry is revealed. The only question: Can you hang? (FIGHTING; fightingrecords.com) Brendan Manley