Yes, the newest Long Live Evil recording artist Malakeye has properly introduced himself to the underground wicked shit scene for his full-length studio debut. Not much is known about him past this point other than the almighty Alla Xul Elu signing them to their independent label a few months ago & The Fallen Choir would be arriving the weekend prior of the 26th annual Gathering of the Juggalos organized by Psychopathic Records, which gives the world some time to get familiar with him until LLE performs a collective set at the festival.
After the “Sci Co City” intro, “Halo in the Fire” opens up with a boom bap beat produced by Billy Obey talking about being an angel in the streets whereas “Sorrow in a Smokey Room” passionate talks about a weight on your chest that makes one feel like they’re choking. “A Funeral Tune” has a cumbersome boom bap tone instrumentally singing for the dead & realizing he ain’t making it back to heaven just before “Lullabyes for the Lost” talks about his death fracturing time itself.
“A Liar’s Promise” was a wigsplitting lead single admitting that he feels insane because of him constantly walking with his screaming demons leading into “Afterlife of Ashes” returning to the boom bap with some organs talking about being one’s impending doom. “Faithful Lies of Mine” discusses the possibility of facing the very monster he’s become while “Fallen from Grace” continues the 2nd act of the LP talks about seeing people becoming fearful when looking at him.
Meanwhile on “Death’s My Shadow”, we have Malakeye passionately discussing the grim reaper following him everywhere he goes while “Too Late for Us” talks about the desire everyone has of erasing all of the mistakes they’ve made throughout their lives. “Don’t Let Go of the Light” brings a guitar into the fold singing of holding onto pieces of ourselves that we can’t seem to leave behind us & “Running in Place” concludes The Fallen Choir talking about feeling misplaced in life.
Choosing to exile from Heaven, the latest addition to the Long Live Evil roster Malakeye ascends again to the stage having the voices of angels in his head who he calls The Fallen Choir accompanying him for the beginning of what I believe will be an exciting career for him. He prepares to join Xul, the Super Famous Fun Time Guys & S.O.N next week by artistically establishing himself to be significantly melodic than his LLE counterparts & the production whipping up a new sound for the Evil empire.
Mt. Clemens, Michigan rapper Blaze Ya Dead Homie awakening from a 6 year slumber for his 8th studio LP. Originally 1/2 of the 2 Krazy Devils, the Insane Clown Posse eventually signed him to Psychopathic Records & his eponymous debut EP as well as his full-length debut 1 Less G n da Hood would become some of the hatchet’s most beloved material at the turn of the millennium. Colton Grundy: Tha Undying introduced us to his alter-ego & Clockwork Gray received the same praise as his earlier material, departing Psychopathic after the Mike E. Clark-produced Gang Rags to make the sequel Reborn the inaugural release for his childhood friends Twiztid’s label Majik Ninja Entertainment in tandem with his own imprint Grundy Entertainment. It’s already been a decade since The Casket Factory & coming off Cadaver on Devil’s Night 2020, he’s Dead Serious regarding a comeback.
After “That Dead Shit” intro, “Sunday Morning” produced by The R.O.C. opens up with Colton talking about having huge plans on top of this g-funk beat whereas “Grind” by Triple Threat embraces a trap vibe instrumentally discussing their hustle. “Lies” keeps the hi-hats rolling addressing an individual who he doesn’t want to associate himself with anymore leading into the final single “The Voice in My Head” awkwardly taking heavy inspiration from Jelly Roll thanks to Grady Finch.
“X’s on Eyes” continues from there descending deeper towards madness over a dark Fritz the Cat beat just before the title track returns to a trap sound sending a message towards people laughing & making jokes directed at him. “At Times” by Zodiac MPrint talks about a kinda love that can be occasionally cynical marking the only track Jamie Madrox doesn’t have a writing credit on & after “Bloody” gets murderous over a chaotic instrumental Native World Inc. in-house producer DJ Hazey made, we have Blaze demanding his respect on “All Hail” over a rap rock beat.
“Negative” has some cool gangsta rap themes regardless of the instrumental not blowing me away while “Farewell” talks about his desire of wanting to come back to life & attempts of contacting an individual from beyond the grave. “Spending Time” was another weak moment for me detailing a woman who’s constantly on his mind but once “Hell’s Coming” by Drive-By featuring Boondox cautions wrath upon everyone, “Armed & Dangerous” concludes with a gangsta rap/rap rock outro although I really enjoyed Stir Crazy’s remix of “No Tomorrow”.
Most ninjas I knew would say Cadaver ranks at the bottom of Blaze Ya Dead Homie’s catalog so to hear him call Dead Serious some of his favorite music he’s ever recorded had me hoping it be superior & I can thankfully confirm that to be the case although I’m still weary of the Eastside Ninjas’ upcoming sophomore effort Return of the Lotus. The production certainly hits harder than it did during the COVID-19 pandemic when the world was locked down & Blaze makes it clear that his musical focus hasn’t changed a bit since the early days of his career despite the poppier cuts not being everyone’s cup of tea.
Paul Wall & Termanology finishing the trilogy with their 3rd collaborative studio LP. One hails from Houston, Texas & the other coming straight out of Boston, Massachusetts. However, both of them have been holding it down for the culture for the past 2 decades with their insane work ethics & albums like The People’s Champ or Politics as Usual. They’ve worked with one another a few times within the last couple years & took their chemistry to new heights with Start 2 Finish, following up the sequel Start Finish Repeat with Repeat Repeat Repeat.
“3-Peat” produced by DJ Fresh begins with a soulful boom bap instrumental talking about shit being plug & play to them at this point whereas “Feeling” featuring TrillStatik finds the quartet jazzily discussing their own individual high-ons. “Blessings” has 1982 accompanying Paul Wall & Masspike Miles encouraging all to focus on themselves because stressing over the next man would cause self-destruction while “Catch Me If You Can” featuring Le$ talks about riding clean because they got it made.
Dame Grease jumps behind the boards for “Make Me Feel” pretty much boasting how fresh both of them are just before “You Believe in You” wraps up the 1st half compassionately speaking directly towards the people who feel like they can’t go on in life & letting hard times get them down. The title track returns to the boom bap thanks to Statik Selektah expressing annoyance towards the fraudulent while “Pray for the Weak” featuring NEMS gets everyone on some delightfully murderous battle rap shit.
“Chasing Gold” featuring Wais P demands to point them to the paper soon as possible while “Back in Paris” runs it back 1 last time with DJ Fresh out in France keeping the hustle on continuous repeat. “Stoned Island” pairs S.T.R.E.E.T. with Paul Wall bringing a jazzier edge to the table talking about grinding daily & the closing track “Trill on Top” talks about the trillest muhfuckas always ending up taking over the world 1 way or another.
Start 2 Finish & Start Finish Repeat were both highly impressive to me as someone who’s been a fan of both Paul Wall & Termanology for some time, but Repeat Repeat Repeat could likely become the weakest installment of this whole saga they had going for 4 years already. It’s quantity of guests are comparable to that of it’s predecessors & the chemistry between both artists are great except some of the production & features miss at times.
United Kingdom hip hop duo the B-Movie Millionaires consisting of Manchester, England emcee Black Josh alongside Runcorn, Cheshire emcee/producer & Blah Records founder Lee Scott are back top drop a sophomore effort. Known for being members of the Cult of the Damned collective, these guys would make their eponymous debut in 2015 with an extended play & had Sam Zircon fully produce their 2018 full-length debut Attack of the 50,000ft Sweg Lawds from Outer Space. Damn near a decade later, It Made Sense at the Time has come months succeeding its original announcement.
“ICL” produced by King Kashmere has somewhat of a lo-fi boom bap vibe instrumentally opens up with them talking about answering to no one whereas “LAA” brings Spectacular Diagnostics behind the boards for a cavernous hardcore hip hop track waking up the block with the bass blarin’ their systems. “SOZ” combines a flute with kicks & snares so both Josh & Lee can keep spitting lyrical venom leading into “HEX” featuring Sly Moon talking about staying 10 steps ahead of the rest.
As for “MED”, we have the Millionaires over a mellow Lee Scott beat explaining their music to be medicinal rather than merely dope just before “316” featuring Nickelus F morbidly boasts about them being lyrical juggernauts. “REX” featuring Quelle Chris declares themselves kings of the apocalypse over a piano-driven instrumental to get the 2nd half going while the woodwind-infused “KEV” talks about their wishes of caring more than they do.
“SOL” featuring Granuja & Mir Nicolas gets bilingual over an unsettlingly fuzzy beat while “BAR” references 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. “SMH” continues the hardcore penmanship but once “HIM” featuring BeTheGun jazzily talks about being those dudes, “TTO” featuring Bill Shakes as well as King Grubb & Sly Moon wraps up It Made Sense at the Time with a Cult posse cut.
A lot has happened to Black Josh & Lee Scott since Attack of the 50,000ft Sweg Lawds from Outer Space came out 8 years ago, so It Made Sense at the Time certainly lives up to it’s name considering the fact Spectacular Diagnostics handled a great bulk of the production coming fresh off the Cult of the Damned’s 4th album Simony this past spring. The B-Movie Millionaires’ chemistry doesn’t lose any steam & I appreciate them increasing the number of guest appearances.
Canton, Ohio rapper & singer/songwriter Trippie Redd making his Atlantic Records debut with his double 7th studio LP. Coming up almost a decade ago off the first 2 installments of the A Love Letter to You mixtape series, the kid would continue to grow after dropping his full-length debut Life’s a Trip & then A Love Letter to You 3 the following year. However, the quality of his music started to take a nosedive given the mediocrity of both ! & A Love Letter to You 4. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Pegasus was a bloated mess & the Travis Barker-produced pop punk foray Neon Shark vs. Pegasus is barely better. Trip at Knight was ok & Mansion Musik took a step down in quality, releasing NDA after multiple delays.
“Merch It” begins with a decently cloudy intro talking about things & people changing except for him whereas “Yopstar” combines pop rap & trap likening himself to a rockstar. “Paperbag Boy”featuring Young Thug finds the pair over a rage-inducing instrumental talking about not needing any friends because all they have is themselves just before “V-12” maintains the hypertrap elements hoppin’ in a wide body & spending paper on his folks.
We have “All My Life” by K-Ci & JoJo being sampled during “Chanely” telling his partner he loves the way she walks & speaks leading into “Swagger”incorporating more rage beats talking about his girl fuckin’ with a real one. “Pourin’ 4s” produced by thr6x gets on some hazy late night vibes discussing his loyalty & fame while “Uncle Phil” featuring Young Thug reunites the 2 for a murky gangsta rap cut I liked more than the “Paperbag Boy” single.
“For Her” samples “I’ll Take Care of U” by the late Gil Scott-Heron atmospherically talking about a woman who’s possessive riding for him while “Free Melly” calls for YNW Melly’s freedom, who performs the hook. “Say What” has a moodier alternative R&B groove to it admitting that his intuition has been telling him to do shit differently while “Good Chance” featuring BigXthaPlug comes through mediocrely shrugging off those thinkin’ none of them are built like that.
thr6x returns behind the boards for “Can’t Believe It” talking about wishing ill on no one & people being unaware of the demons he’s seeing while “How Much X?” featuring Tory Lanez cooks with 10 trap phones together asking for the cost of ecstasy. “Meet the Redds” drew some controversy wasting an ATL Jacob beat on the opening line “Fuck these lame n****s, we gon’ lynch ’em like the Klan” while “Kidding Me” featuring 9 Vicious talks about pulling up with choppers.
“I Got Everything” was much salvageable than “Meet the Redds” looking back on having nothing & eventually over a boom bap-esque instrumental having it all while “Fine Shit” featuring Lil Wayne flips “Just Fine” by Mary J. Blige talking about how beautiful their respective lovers are. “No Way” takes a more sexual approach topically declaring himself a young Pootie Tang the way he slayin’ 3 hoes while “MTV” featuring Rob49 talks about killing entire jungles.
Ski Mask the Slump God appears for “Break It In” so they can get materialistic while “Slime Too” samples “Just for Now” by Imogen Heap talking about doing what he wants. “Pink Toes” hits us with a 2-parter Hitmaka cooked up looking to get sexually active but after “Switches & Fentanyl” featuring NoCap talks about hiding their emotions in their cup, “I’m Sorry Baby” finishes NDA with a public apology to Trippie’s baby momma Coi Leray.
“DontWaitForMe” starts the deluxe run talking about making way for the other side being the best high when it’s all said & done while “Wanna Fly Away” expresses his desire of leaving all the bullshit in his life behind. “Trillionaire Club” talks about possibly taking this shawty to the moon or the city assuring her she’s a star while “KingOfTheWorld” pretty much gives us an audio description of touring the globe.
Meanwhile on “Kiss the Ring”, some shots are being thrown at Coi Leray’s direction for not letting him shed their daughter when he cheated on her whilst she was pregnant with her while “Tuck Your Chain” talks about rollin’ in a Phantom outside of Atlanta with models & dancers. “Wanna Be a Trillionaire” opens professes of making $1T when Tesla CEO, Twitter owner, SpaceX founder, Neuralink founder & Nazi Elon Musk temporarily achieved that while “SVM3” talks about hoes being the same to him.
“No Rewards” becomes self-aware of this war he’s been at with himself & optimistically smiles through any shades of doubt cloud his mind although him dissing Coi again was an eye-rolling moment while “Keep Flying” talks about being stuck in space. “Being Myself” featuring Tezzus clarifies the only concern either of them have is staying true to themselves while “Plead the 5th” talks about feeding the streets & his team being all he knows, only having love for the money & his mother.
K Suave’s verse towards the end of “Med Kit” didn’t really stick out that much basically confessing their addiction to lean on wax while “Different Colors” talks about his Rolex watch coming in multiple hues. “Rock the Bed” featuring Gigi Holland samples “BedRock” by Young Money for a decent pop rap joint while “Emo Pop” recalls somebody stumbling in his room late at night. “YouDontReallyLove” talks about needing a place out in Malibu & the final bonus track “Miss My Dogs” remembers all of his homies who’re no longer here.
Part of the reason I get skeptical whenever Trippie Redd comes out with new music in is because of him bloating the Hell outta his last few albums amassing a large number of guests & mostly underwhelming production, which NDA feels like another addition to the pile. It’s unfortunate too because I really do think we could’ve gotten something greater if you took the best trap, pop rap, alternative R&B & rage moments from each disc & left all the filler on the cutting room floor.
benny blanco is a 38 year old producer, songwriter, record executive & author from Reston, Virginia who made his debut in 2018 with Friends Keep Secrets under Interscope Records. He recently produced my favorite album Selena Gomez has ever made I Said I Love You First…& You Said It Back in the spring of last year preceding their marriage several months later, departing from A&M Records following a 10 month tenure on the label to drop his sophomore effort that I’m sure will have a 2nd disc much like the predecessor a week after Adam Page & Brodido ended The Demand’s week-long reign as AEW World Trios Champions at Grand Slam VIII in partnership with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) at Arena México.
“Un poco perdido” by Neton Vega opens up drunkenly admitting he’s lost whereas “Te Olvido (La La)” by Becky G & Selena Gomez blends Latin pop, reggaetón & cumbatión asking what their partners have that no one else does. “Joven y salvaje” by Bb trickz co-produced by Cashmere Cat wasn’t bad of a contemporary R&B, pop rap, bedroom pop, alt-pop, post-punk revival single talking about not wanting to pick up the phone while the dream pop-inspired “Memoria De Paz” by The Marías depicts 2 lovers holding the sound of their voices on the phone tightly.
After the “Te Amo” interlude, “Ay Bendito” by Mora featuring co-production from Ovy on the Drums takes a breezier approach instrumentally getting sexual with the songwriting & “Degenere” by Myke Towers succeeding the “Cinco” skit properly concludes Hermoso with a reggaetón closer fans of his already heard a couple years ago when his 5th album La Pantera Negra came out so it’s a bit unnecessary although I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad introduction for those who’ve never heard of him.
Part of me respects benny blanco for what he’s musically done with artists like Eminem & of course the late Juice WRLD in the past, but I do find it strange for him to go full Latin for a Friends Keep Secrets follow-up that I’d consider weaker than his debut. Hermoso’s production is more Latin-heavy experimenting with Latin pop, reggaetón, cumbatión, contemporary R&B, pop rap, bedroom pop, alt-pop, post-punk revival & dream pop except I feel like it doesn’t come from a sincere place like Cypress Hill’s latest full-length Dios Bendiga.
This is the sophomore effort from Los Angeles, California label & producer collective Internet Money Records founded by Taz Taylor. Releasing their full-length debut B4 the Storm to moderate reception in the summer of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, they would later drop an extended play a couple years later called We All We Got which I found myself enjoying more than majority of people generally did. BabyBartier, ladé, Sir Untre & unitus have all signed to Taz since & he’s having all 4 of them coming to they’re for We All We Needed under their new distribution deal with Mercury Records & Republic Records.
“Lambo, Maybach & Black Truck” by BabyBartier, Sir Untre & unitus produced by Nash opens up with the trio boasting the luxurious whips they’re hopping out of whereas “Helly” finds all 3 of them sticking together over a Cxdy instrumental dedicating this to all the rebels who’re staying down. “Flexed Up” by BabyBartier & Sir Untre combines some synthesizers & 808s so they can talk about being too geeked prior to BabyBartier getting a track of his own with “No Problems” clarifying that he doesn’t have any issues.
As for “Tellin’ Lies”, we have unitus talking about walking with the bag differently than everyone else while “Monster” by BabyBartier & Sir Untre impressively trades verses with one another on top of a rage beat. “Home” by Sir Untre gives the latter a chance to shine talking about not being broke anymore while “Medusa” by BabyBartier & Sir Untre runs it back over a PROJECT4PLAY instrumental so they can topically get some gangsta shit together.
“Yellow” by BabyBartier talks about being up in the club all night sippin’ lean while “Pop Tags” by BabyBartier & unitus reaches the midway point of We All We Needed explaining that they be fuckin’ so many bad hoes boiling down to them having that swag when walking around over synthesizers & hi-hats. “Ceiling” by BabyBartier hooks up some bells to talk about stacking money higher than it can go while “Steve Nash” by BabyBartier references the Phoenix Suns’ senior advisor of the same name.
Sir Untre joins Bartier for the only single “556” explaining their precise caliber over a Maaly Raw beat while “Do the Most” by unitus talks about the very reason his hoe loves him & putting her in Chanel. “Sing” by ladé marks one of the latter’s only 2 appearances & giving him a solo cut to spit that gangsta shit preceding “Down” by BabyBartier, Sir Untre & unitus was only right until the 3 talking about breaking it off with bitches who have no swag over a Zaan instrumental.
“Words Don’t Hurt, Bullets Do” by Sir Untre winds down We All We Needed’s final moments discussing his preference of letting the stick leave everyone in pain since he’s so pissed that he doesn’t even wanna talk while “Whole Lot” by BabyBartier talks about having so much product where he straight up asks what one would like to buy. “I Love” by Sir Untre expresses the gratification he gets outta hearing gunfire while “Mojo” by BabyBartier & ladé concludes the album talking about getting drugs off a boat.
To my knowledge: Rich Amiri has been primarily holding it down for Internet Money Records within the past couple years so it overdue for Taz to bring some fresh new faces on board & We All We Needed certainly offers a promising future for the imprint. BabyBartier, ladé, Sir Untre & unitus all deliver some of their hungriest performances on wax & I found myself enjoying more out of the production than I did when Bartier made his major label debut this spring.
Phoebe Bridgers is a 31 year old singer/songwriter & producer from Pasadena, California known for being 1/3 of the supergroup Boygenius & formerly 1/2 of the Better Oblivion Community Center. Her 2017 full-length studio debut Stranger in the Alps as well as the 2020 sophomore effort Punisher would individual become some of the most crucial indie folk recorded this decade for their own separate reasons, returning after a 30 month hiatus to put out her 3rd studio LP following her own label Saddest Factory Records’ demise.
“The Outside” made for a sparsely slow intro produced by Jack Antonoff using a vocoder to discuss cycling or overlapping identities whereas “Lost Boys” fuses folk rock, indie rock, heartland rock, Americana & indie folk putting a more tragic spin on the group of children Peter Pan leads. “Kill Me” has a janglier quality to it mentioning her boyfriend Bo Burnham while “The Governor’s Waltz” recalls her previous relationship with Paul Mescal embracing a singer/songwriter vibe.
Meanwhile on the indie rock-inspired “Bobby”, we have Phoebe telling Bo she believes he’s truly the one for himl prior to the title track continuing to delve more into her calling off her engagement to Paul & referencing the way John Lennon described his 18-month separation from his widow Yoko Ono. “Haunted” turns up the Americana influences reusing the same ghost motif Phoebe has become known for musically until “Panorama” recalls a high-rise hotel stay interrupted by a cryptic visitor.
“Still Standing” acoustically kicks off the 2nd half of Lost Weekend looking back at the complex relationship she had with her abusive father following his death while “Liberty Tree” details on how things are currently going with Bo Burnham & I felt him doing background vocals was a sweet little nod. “Never Going Back!” combines a capellas with acoustics & a voicemail from her father expanding on the relationship they had while the intense “Other Plans” further embrace the John Lennon influences.
After the compositional “Lost Parade” intermission, “I Can’t Wait” winds down Lost Weekend’s final act embracing an ambient pop direction singing about accepting the 2 contradicting parts of her identity while “As Above” breaks down her perception of grief & love over layered instrumentation. A sequel to the title track concludes the album with a full circle moment revisiting the ideas of that song & breaking a cycle via a hard-earned catharsis.
Being introduced to Phoebe Bridgers after she was featured on the final installment of KiD CuDi’s historic Man on the Moon trilogy at the end of 2020 & later SZA’s sophomore effort S.O.S., Lost Weekend expands the artistic growth of Punisher far enough where I can say she had made her finest collection of material. The indie folk, singer/songwriter, Americana, indie rock, folktronica & ambient production Jack Antonoff handles compliments the themes exploring past her past relationships, the formation of a stable new relationship, grief & dissociation with her fame.
This is the latest & 5th full-length LP from Detroit, Michigan rapper Stanwill. Coming up as 1/3 of the ShittyBoyz with Babytron & TR Dee signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he eventually branched out on his own during the COVID-19 pandemic off the debut EP $camwill as well as it’s successor Gifted & the debut mixtape Van Gundy. He also went Full Auto for his 3rd EP & 4ever $hittin’ following Still $hittin’, coming off Stan Always Will for a deeper look at $tanley.
“X Rated” doesn’t have the strongest instrumental to kick things off speaking of having that dog in him prior to “Alzheimer’s” explaining that he’ll stay up all night for the money since he could a give a fuck about catching any rest. “Oscar Mayer” discusses catching the muhfucka talking spicy on his name & putting a bullet in his head just before “Hocus Pocus” featuring T Bone finds the pair trading bars with each other similarly to both of Stan’s last couple albums.
Continuing from there, “Action Packed” hooks up some bells to talk about anyone beefing with the Dog $hit Militia being left on stretchers leading into the piano-driven “Go Figure” brushing off some broke ass hater for staying pressed. “Betta Ask Somebody” explains that he ain’t gonna send disses unless he’s wrapping up corpses while Danny G saves my favorite beat for “I.Y.K.Y.K. (If You Know You Know)” so he & Lil Mello can discuss their respective wealth.
“Motion Picture” wraps up the 1st leg of $tanley going for a mellower vibe instrumentally asking how one’s simultaneously wearing Rick & owing rent prior to “Disco $hit” kicking off the 2nd half combining the Detroit sound & disco talking about no one in his squad sharing racks with each other. “Up 50” featuring Buddyy speaks of others having trouble catching up to the run they’ve been on while “Bruce Wayne” likens himself to the main character of the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment-owned Batman franchise.
The ShittyBoyz get together for “Jahmyr Gibbs” talking about investing in themselves while “2026” expresses confidence of becoming historic. “Same Old Ways” dabbled with plugg & pop rap advising against saying names if he’s being interrogated while “What You Need” decently tackles themes of love. “I Got More” talks about not worrying over shit & “Come With Me” sends off the album with a melodically romantic plugg outro.
Ahead of his very first solo show next weekend, Stanwill comes off D$M’s debut tape a couple weeks earlier to reveal a more introspective side to him including some interesting experimentations with plugg & pop rap towards the backend of $tanley. The pluggier moments somewhat take me back to 4ever $hittin’ & the poppier cuts might not be for everyone although I understand him doing it in the context of those tracks.
Smash Mouth is an alternative power pop band from San Jose, California consisting of bassist Paul DeLisle, keyboardist Michael Klooster, drummer Randy Cooke, guitarist Sean Hurwitz & frontman Zach Goode. Originally fronted by Steve Harwell from their inception to 2021, their 1997 debut Fush Yu Mang & the 1999 sophomore effort Astro-Lounge under Interscope Records are widely celebrated as their strongest material. Self-titled, Get the Picture?, The Gift of Rock, Summer Girl & Magic were received mediocrely at best & horrid at worst. 3 years after Steve’s death, they’re keeping the band on life support for their 8th LP.
“Better Believer” made for an average power pop, pop rock & geek rock intro calling back to their cover of “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees whereas “Whiskey, Gin & Wine” questionably sings about alcohol considering Steve’s death was brought on by alcoholism. “Had Enuff” was an underwhelming cross between pop rock, freakbeat, baggy, power pop & geek rock singing about being fed up with somebody just before “Big Sur Sky” makes a tacky metaphor for being a star one of Cali’s darkest areas.
We have Zach & company taking it back to the Get the Picture? era stylistically on “House of the Setting Sun” singing about always going home if you can’t find the door preceding “Monsters on My Block” hideously mutating pop rock, geek rock, cocktail nation, power pop, freakbeat, funk rock & new tone to wrap up the 1st half. “New Wave Rodeo” gets the 2nd act going making mediocre references to a plethora of older musical acts including Devo & Elvis Costello while “Gimmie Gimmie” provides a cringeworthy tale of some dude in a bind not wanting to share with his partner.
“Jackie-O” sings about thinking he’d seen everything until he saw the titular character diving headfirst into a wishing well while “Soaking Up the Sun” goes for a ska rock direction yearning to chill by the ocean to escape from all the turmoil in our world. “Face in the Crowd” sings about them looking for a way in the current landscape when I think disbanding would be the properly solution to that & “Midnight Doctor (Mercury Comet)” concludes the album putting us inside the shoes of a morning regretter.
There’s literally no reason for Smash Mouth to even try continuing post-Magic & unsurprisingly, Mercury Comet in comparison ties it’s predecessor over a decade ago to become the most unpleasant listening experience of their discography. The alternative pop rock, power pop, pop punk, geek rock, cocktail nation, pop, freakbeat, baggy, funk rock & new tone production sadly gets wasted on Zach Goode’s unbearable vocals & Paul DeLisle’s awful songwriting.
Legends Will Never Die 