Familiar Music For The Future

It seems like only yesterday (it WAS yesterday, is why) that I was walking around "the office" bitching about how much I hate it when hip-hop acts perform with live bands.  Well.  Clearly, an exception must be made.


These guys are Death Grips.  The drummer is the dude from Hella.  They're probably my favorite thing as of Right Now (1:38 PST, July 17 2011) and they can Do No Wrong.  You should probs hurry over to their website, which hosts a ton of amazing videos and a free download of their mixtape, Exmilitary.


What will you be getting?  Oh, I'm so glad you asked.


You'll be getting scorched earth lyricism ("Secret order, elitist horde of creeping fire, seizing power, riders of the lupus hour") that still manages to be uplifting and energizing (in a bleak, desperately fucked way).  You'll be getting totally dusted beats and giant walls of avant-noise.  And you'll be getting some SERIOUSLY intense performances... like Wu-Tang Clan turned up five notches or M.O.P. turned down two.  Some lesser scribe said Exmilitary was like getting yelled at by a hobo for forty-five minutes, and I think that was supposed to be some kind of insult.  Whatever, square.


This is a rich, deep album.  Despite the overall theme of tooth-grinding intensity, there's a surprising amount of tonal variation in the songs. Sure, it's mostly neck-snapping Break Shit Music, but Death Grips also tackle moments of existential contemplation, wild joy, and even bravery and dignity. Also, these dudes (and lady) are exactly the kind of Pop Music Obsessives I want making beats.  Sampling Black Flag and The Doors and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown?  Building a whole song out of Link Wray's "Rumble"?  Fuck yes please and thank you.

If you think you can live without an album that references both EPMD and The Minutemen, you are clearly the Greatest Fool In The World, and I can do nothing for you.  The only sane response to Exmilitary is to send Death Grips all yr money and begin holding yr breath for the proper album release.  I want a West Coast tour ASAP.