The quest to uncover the truth has given California-based hardcore pioneers (Hed)p.e. new life. While the band has weathered the stormy waters of the music business for over a decade and enjoyed a slew of successful albums, it's their quest for answers that has given them purpose. Now with the release of their eighth studio album, "Truth Rising", (Hed)p.e have become the voice for a movement that empowers youth and reveals the seedy underbelly of our current political affairs.

While early (Hed)p.e. albums found the group mixed up in the rock n' roll lifestyle, they were reborn after aligning themselves with California based Suburban Noize Records. The group's first release under the partnership was 2006's "Back 2 Base X", which saw (Hed)p.e. adopting a socio-political mindset and picked up the torch that giants like Rage Against The Machine had once carried. Since then (Hed)p.e. has been embraced by underground music fans all across the globe who don't subscribe to mainstream trends. (Hed)p.e's grassroots rebirth has given the band the biggest success of their career, as their 2007 release "Insomnia" charted at #138 on the Billboard Top 200, and 2009's "New World Orphans" jumped to #72, proving that the group's movement continues to grow.

Fans of the classic California underground hip-hop sound defined by Digital Underground in the late 80's and early 90's, and carried on by a number of groups and artists to date, including E-40, Living Legends, and the Hieroglyphics crew, will no doubt be surprised by the sophomore release "Harvest Time" by Potluck. Reigning from Humboldt County, California, the group consists of 1Ton and UnderRated, who met in 1995 at a DJ trial at a local club. In 2000, they released their debut album, "Humboldt County High," which was well received in Humboldt and along the west coast. This year, with the release of "Harvest Time," Potluck hopes to gain more acclaim and exposure in a west coast scene that ignores every act until they have proven themselves to be solid on the mic.

The most interesting aspect of the group is that their style cannot be labeled; they have succeeded in fusing multiple genres of hip-hop music, which pans out to rich synth-mod beats not unlike the early Hieroglyphics sound, but with a twist of Northern and Southern Cali "gangsta-boogie." And with UnderRated's rapid-fire flow combining with 1Ton's rich, deep baritone voice, most tracks end up sounding somewhat like old-school Living Legends crossbred with Twista and Ice Cube, with a modern, radio-friendly overtone.