On the plus side, they have pretty decent production and a good rhythm section, which are two things that early Sonic Youth didn't have. Lyrically they're much closer to Swans, with a lot of repetitive lyrics about power and such, delivered in a kind of "arty" vocal style that's aged less well than the rest of the band's sound. They have the guitar chimes and noises of the former and a lot of the power of the latter. To my ears, they sound like the missing link between pre-Evol Sonic Youth and pre-Children of God Swans. It's too bad that there hasn't been a CD reissue of Rat At Rat R's output. I'm doing my favorite one first, so it's all downhill after this! Here's the original piece, with very minor alterations:įor the next few Fridays (my slowest day, hence the day that it'll irritate the fewest people) I'm going to post songs by Sonic Youth/no-wave related bands that didn't quite make it. I said it before a year ago, but feel the need to repeat that this album is seriously the missing link between, say, Greed and Kill Your Idols. It's got all the power that Sonic Youth never had, but manages to be songs instead of Swans dirges. I'm adding one more song this time round and I'm more convinced now than ever that this is a great lost noise rock album (it's not all that lost, but it's still not on CD). April showers apparently bring thoughts of dread, decay, noise and doom. Went to look it up in my archives, and it turns out that it originally ran just about exactly one year ago. For the past two days I've been obsessively listening to Rat At Rat R again, and I thought it might be nice to repost my piece on their first album.
Album DescriptionSo I'm taking these pain pills for the knee injury and they're vaguely opiated, and I don't know about you but opiates always make noisy music sound great to me. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. In fact, this album seems so fully realized it's difficult to imagine Mystikal taking his music to yet another level without changing his style. Like Let's Get Ready, Tarantula realizes the potential Mystikal's early work for No Limit promised - the potential to be one of the most successful and unique, yet still unrefined and uncompromising, rappers in the game. And since Mystikal rises to the occasion, delivering rhymes that are just as rousing as the beats, he has recorded his second great album in a row. Mystikal really couldn't ask for better production, overall - all the tracks have bouncy, ass-shakin', club-ready beats, and nearly all have quite catchy hooks. The Neptunes return with three excellent productions, one of them, "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)," attempting to duplicate the energy and appeal of the last song the duo produced for Mystikal, "Shake Ya Ass." Elsewhere, two of the industry's hottest producers of the moment, Rockwilder and Scott Storch, contribute some excellent tracks. Longtime collaborator KLC continues to improve here, crafting many of this album's liveliest moments, songs like "P***y Crook" and "Big Truck Driver" that find Mystikal at his least mannered. One thing has changed with Mystikal over the years though: With each successive album, he's been graced with continuously improved production.
On Tarantula, Mystikal's first album in the wake of his commercial breakthrough in 2000, he's just as wild as ever - a blunt-smokin', big truck-drivin', ass-slappin' James Brown for his generation with no apologies and few pretensions. The coast-to-coast success of "Shake Ya Ass" thankfully didn't tame Mystikal too much.
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