The openly gay, thirty-something, Cuban restaurant entrepreneur (owner of Joya and Song- Brooklyn, NY) been approaching the music industry from several different angles, modifying his sound and songwriting (and temporarily his name), but has yet to find his niche.

Frolic and F*** is the follow up to Aparicio’s All I Wanted, which entered CMJ's most added chart at #19 upon release. This studio recording was birthed from a brand new Aparicio owned label, Bully Records, and the rearrangement of band members and guitar pedagogy.

The EP begins with a cliché song titled "Punk Rock Girl." Despite its unoriginality the track has a hip shaking bass and rhythmic drums that remind me of Bow Wow Wow, the 80’s one hit wonder. The second song "All My Life" is driven by a tribal steady punk beat and a dreamy chorus of guitar breaks.

Tomas Marsh (guitar), Josh Margolis (drums) and Billy Mann (bass) have no signature sound and are a poor backup to the confused songwriter. The third track "Blue" takes the album on a serious dive. The pace slows down and there is no effective musical cover for Aparicio's repetitive vocal melodies. Vocal overdubs on reggae tinged track "Get Happy" lighten the vibe with a groovy sing along, though the title is usurped from Elvis Costello’s 1980 album of the same name.

The record so lacks identity that I don't know what to make of it. There are too many styles represented without a hint of a unifying thread. Album artwork portrays no identifying image, leaving potential buyers clueless as to what genre the band falls into. The picture on the back, a picture of a green Fender Telecaster sitting on a bed beside three petrified roses, would have made a more appropriate cover. Instead Ariel used the picture of his shirtless self. It seems as if the band hasn't found the sound to fit their image, the image to fit their sound, or the creativity to deliver a cohesive package. Muscles and Rock n’ Roll only worked for the Misfits.

On positive note, Ariel's vocal talent peeks through on tracks like "Brenda Lee" and "Get Happy". Maybe Aparicio and the Guns should focus on the Rock N’ Roll instead of trying to piece genres together, or perhaps they should steer away from Rock all together. Either way, this EP is a wishy-washy mixture of random musical ideas which lacks any unifying conceptualism.