Hip-hop is not a genre often associated with Scotland, so it
can prove difficult to take this Edinburgh six-piece seriously. Nevertheless,
Stanley Odd have spent the last few years swimming hard against the riptide of
heavy rock in their home country. They have done so quite successfully: debut
studio album Oddio, released two
years ago to critical acclaim, helped the group break their festival duck. But
that, as they say, is all in the past; a band is, after all, only as good as
their latest release – in this case, Reject.
It seems to be the fashion to kick off an album with an
introduction, and the Odd are not ones to buck this trend. They set the scene
for their second full-length record with angrily spat vocals diving head-first
into a scathing political rant. Mainly highlighting perceived flaws in the
political system, the lyrics flow nicely and match both the crooked drum pattern
and droning bass well. It leads onto longest track Antiheroics, a sawtooth-surfing ripsnorter of a song that pounds along
with all the momentum of a freight train.
There’s a strong undercurrent of humour rippling underneath
the gloom; Solareye – the lead vocalist, clearly – has a snarky, wooden tone to
his voice, his Scottish brogue rearing its head to provide a tether to his ego.
It somehow balances the otherwise American influence to root the group squarely
in Midlothian. Of course, the comedy is also crafted purposefully – the entire
chorus of single Killergram is built
around performance metaphors; interlude The
Counsellor's Waiting Room is elevator music designed purely to introduce Marriage Counselling; and various puns
are littered throughout.
A defining feature of this record is the remarkably heavy
use of 8-bit synthesiser, as though someone was fiddling around on Pokémon Red while they were laying down
the tracks. This can be used to good effect, and often is: the sine wave on Join the Club, among others, purrs and
spasmodically squeals underneath a muffled drum kit, providing an ideal canvas
for the male/female vocal duels going on over the top. Overall then, Reject is a solid forty-six minute olio
of pulsing syncopation with some rather clever lyrics woven into it. If there
was ever a hip-hop album to proselytise critics, this is their champion.
Reject by Stanley
Odd is out on the 17th of September.
JS
No comments:
Post a Comment