People might tell you that punk is dead, but it is alive and kicking – it just lives in new places. California hip hop act, Death Grips, brings punk sensibilities to their sound and have created a ferocious and bizarre third album. It continues the bands dedication to being unpredictable and unwilling to conform to hip hop or any other stereotype.
Opening with a frantic combination of screeching treble and driving bass, the first song could be mistaken for a guerrilla attack. Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett’s lyrics and thrashing voice are just as savage. He keeps the anger and profanity at the top end on ‘Two Heavens’, but the augmentation of producer, Zach Hill’s beats provides more balance. Hill continues to make some of the most expansive beats in hip hop exemplified on ‘Big House’ and ‘Bootleg’.
Lead single, ‘Birds’, has an incredible array of layers, ideas and sounds that are as much mashed together as meshed together. It rejects structure at the outset, but somehow claws back enough structure to make it a real stand out. There are times where the raw intensity of this album overpowers the song writing though. It’s those moments that are the most rewarding and terrifying.
