Bob Dole, take note: the noxious influence of Pulp Fiction has reached beyond its cinematic imitators. Popular music also finds inspiration in goons who drop pop-culture references while whacking suckers. Take Fun Lovin' Criminals, a New York (bound to be called) alternative hip-hop trio whose comical B-movie badness falls somewhere between gangsta rap and a gangster flick. Call it Tarantino rock: Like the guy from Reservoir Dogs who tortures prey while happily grooving to '70s hits, FLC spike action-packed musical lawlessness with humor. How else to explain the lyrics "La di da di, free John Gotti"?

Like the group's 1995 EP, Come Find Yourself blends blues-based rock with rap – think G. Love and Special Sauce with the harder and grittier sounds of the mean streets. Although a twangy acoustic blues riff sets off the stick-'em-up intro "The Fun Lovin' Criminal," from there the guitar work is more electric and eclectic, shifting from Chicago blues to acid rock and from wah-wah effects to riff-heavy chord crunching. And using samples, loops and scratches – with standard funk bass and beats – FLC stake a larger claim on hip-hop tools than G. Love ever attempted.

Tarantino's mojo seethes through the album. The director shares songwriting credit for lending movie sound bites to "Scooby Snacks," a speed-induced ride in a getaway car as it peels away from a bank heist. Lead singer Huey goes on to spy on the free-loading drug losers in "Methadonia," mythologize Gotti the mobster as "King of New York" (a nod to Martin Scorsese) and even grasp moments of twisted grace in "We Have All the Time in the World," a trip-hoppy cover of the John Barry/Hal David love theme.

Borrowing another Pulp Fiction trick, Come Find Yourself seamlessly joins borrowed styles and techniques. On "Bear Hug," a wailing harmonica binds a House of Pain-like throaty rap to the nightmare bass loop; "Bombin' the L" overlays punk chords, ambient sounds, soulful trumpet and a "Freebird" sample; "Methadonia" cuts between mellow Eagles rock and bubblegum lounge jazz. Of course, identifying with Tarantino's fun-loving Hollywood criminality rather than the perceived "real" violence of rap has other advantages: With the record industry's double standard, Come Find Yourself avoids the warning sticker most milder black rap acts would get. But then, if you can get away with it, maybe it ain't a crime after all. (RS 731)

RONI SARIG