By: Sam E. Lawrence

Minneapolis-based Overklok is dropping a heavy dose of new music on ThazDope Records today, in the form of G-Force, his latest EP.

Right from the start, “No Bones” is high-energy bass that stays dark and murky while opening up some fun dance floor energy. A hybrid crossover track, it works well as an intro to the broadly-styled EP. “Hunchback” comfortably wades out into the much darker waters of dubstep. Still melodic and bouncy, this track feels like something from a few years ago, but in all the right ways. Whistles, thumps, wubs, and little bass meows greet the listener at every turn, and I hope to hear Steven Brown's track played in lots of live sets very soon.

“It’s Getting Weird” lives up to its name and while things slow down here, they don’t get any less interesting. Curdled, psychedelic synths drag the track up from its relaxed beginnings into some great psy trap. The percussion is by far the most interesting aspect of this track and makes use of some great virtual instruments, almost sounding like a one man gamelan.

“Wiggly Lines” is a laid-back beat that hits a good stride in the second half, but stays quite mellow throughout. “Bad Man Boogie” is a mid-energy beat that does some exploration but ultimately fails to standout on the EP.

“Heavy Vapor” returns to much more interesting sound design territory and shows off Overklok’s understanding of subtlety and depth in composition. An impossible-to-resist head-nodder of a track, this dubstep thumper is really quite uncomplicated, but the sounds are just so fun and stand out crisply, well-mixed over cavernous chambers of bass.

The final track, the title track of the EP kicks things back into higher gear with some very 2014 trap vibes. The energy here varies wildly between high and low moments, but throughout the whole project, Brown’s solid sound design fundamentals stand up to scrutiny.

You can catch Overklok, along with Murkury, Makak, Mystic Grizzly, and many more at The Untz Festival from June 1-3 in beautiful Mariposa, California. The whole ThazDope crew is coming together for this blowout event.