By shelz.
Def Jam’s original crew was gone with the wind long ago. Russell slays draconian drug laws when he isn’t peddling credit cars or defending his right to date barely legal super models. Rick revives country music careers and levitates on the weekends. LL isn’t a cop or a serial killer, but he plays them on TV and Slayer can’t keep from offending anyone long enough to get any buzz. However, the Beastie Boys are another story. After a quarter of a century in a trade that spits out artists before their first single hits the net, the New York quartet has dropped album #8, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2.
Expecting doctorate-level lyricism will leave you disappointed. The yes, yes y’all of the Beasties mic style is as simple as one of their similes, but that’s part of the fun. As the Godfathers of the Hip-Hop frat house set, their distinction hardly rests on the turn of a witty hyperbolic phrase, but simple and repeatable bars that can keep the party going. Hot Sauce Committee does exactly that.
The LP is patented Beastie Boy playfulness complete with writhing, frenetic synth lines, mic passing akin to a game of hot potato, vocal distortion, and a definite need for lots of tartar sauce for you new millennium crab rappers.
“Make Some Noise” is a perfect introduction that snatches you right back into the Beastie way. It has been almost five years since a studio release from the crew, but slipping into their vibe doesn’t take long it all. Crazy wah wah-like synth, layered drums and scratches on the breaks create the right amount of commotion for the trio’s homage to rowdy business. Tone and tenor are set with the first song and the album doesn’t meander far.
“Nonstop Disco Powerpack” find the guys beating on their chests over some junk yard percussion weighed down with heavy, slithering bass. Check Ya Head is resurrected in spirit with “Long Burn the Fire.” It’s one of the few songs on which the posse wanders away from the similes to find some more interesting construction. “Tadlock’s Glasses” sounds like what we thought was spacey until we figured out what space really sounded like. The intro cacophony of cowbells on “Here’s A Little Something For Ya” leads to one of the best tracks on the album in all its slinky goodness and there is a shout out to Leon Talley. Word.
The features are sparse. Santigold riding shotgun on “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” is the biggest risk the album takes and Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 is better off for it. The dub beat shakes the Beasties out of their element a bit, but it’s still a sweet ride. The crabs get the gas face with “Too Many Rappers” and Nas joins in to help the crew cut their wack asses off at the knees.
Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 would be great for any upcoming outing that involves frat boys, beer pong and random girls gone wild. It isn’t the type of album you listen to for lyricism or the latest and greatest in tongue twisting flows. Some of the songs are similar enough to run together, but that’s only if you are paying close attention. If that party is as fun as the music suggests it is though, you’re waiting your turn for the keg and eying the cutie you met on the way in. Enjoy.
Out of 5
Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win (featuring Santigold)
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This album is swag. The production and voice distortions kill. Swagged out album.