The Chicharones – Swine Country EP Review
Welcome to Swine Country. No, I’m not talking about nowadays North America…. I’m talking about The Chicharones EP that was released at the end of February on Camobear Records. I don’t know if it was a case of foreseeing the future or just pure coincidence that brought this name to life, but it just seems perfect timing. I’ve been listening to this album for the last two months, but now with almost every news story based around the possible pandemic of swine flu I figured I had to give this album a review.
This album is sick! (pun intended)
Ok, enough with the bad taste humour. In all honesty, The Chicharones have taken hip hop in a direction that breaks all the scene’s barriers. They are on a path to blend as many styles and destroy any pre-conceived notions of what hip hop is – blending raps with beats comprised of 60′s surf rock, crooning ballads, 40′s deep southern blues piano licks mixed with ukulele, as well as including some rugged straight forward production that is anything but generic. Josh Martinez and Sleep are both musical geniuses in their own right, but like Voltron they combine and display a power that’s unmatched. With a collection of EP’s, including a live record, under their belt they show no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are scheduled to release a full length album this summer.
After a short intro, ‘You Gotta Move’ opens. Something about his song grabbed me as soon as I heard it. I don’t know if it’s the beat, the way they throw vocal delivery back and forth or the underlying comedy in the lyrics, but whatever it was I couldn’t help but get down and funky. This didn’t stop as I rolled through ‘The Put Out’ and “Taco Wagon’, each with their own unique flavour and ability to keep my body moving. I even found myself busting out some classic dance moves including “The Carlton Banks”.
Next came ‘Go Fuck Yourself’. I’m all about this song. As the music commences you’d swear it was a love song, but listening to the lyrics it’s apparent it’s quite the opposite. A smooth and sultry stab at a woman who would end a relationship because her man wasn’t Mr. Moneybags.
‘On My Own’ follows as a straight up hip hop track with the same amazing delivery The Chicharones are known for. Then again it branches off with ‘Pet’s Sounds’, a blend of deep roots music and almost a lazy attempt at singing and rapping that works perfectly with the vibe of the track.
Last but certainly not least is ‘One Is Not So Bad’. I have to say, with the amount of commercial rap flooded with vocoders I’ve become an avid hater on this style. My views have now been tweaked, although there is a vocoder it adds more to this song than can ever detract from it. The ever building and driving melody, combined with the in your face delivery of lyric will have your cranium rocking back and forth, so much that you’ll look like a bobble-head doll.
All in all, I can’t think of one negative thing to say about this album. I’m completely floored by the amount of talent The Chicharones continue to display and the ability to combine musical styles together to create their own form of hip hop. This album is a must have for any hip hop fan that is willing to explore new options to the art. I can’t wait for their full length this summer.
Buy the digital download of Swine Country EP here
The Chicharones – Go Fuck Yourself
The Chicharones – Pet’s Sounds
Tags: EP
This is really, really bad.