The Pelican’s Perch

You’re probably saying “What?!  A hip hop band on the Perch?” right now, and for the most part you’d be correct in the fact I rarely post any hip hop/rap on here.  I should know way more than I do, considering Charlie, my LemonDrop Records partner, and his brother George have gigs upon gigs of great hip hop, but when searching for new tunes, things usually work out more in the indie rock direction.  Maybe I’ll finally look into that DVD of hip hop Charlie gave me a long time ago.

But this week I found two groups I’m really digging.  The first is the Knux (short for Knuckleheads), two brothers that have crafted a hip hop meets classic rock album unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time.  The other band is Honey Claws, which sounds like Animal Collective meets Why? and a dash of Eazy-E for good measure.  Really strange, but I’ll talk about them tomorrow.

I’d seen the Knux reviewed in Spin, Blender, and most recently Rolling Stone, and after reading the Rolling Stone review, I finally let my curiosity get the best of me.  Rappers that sing about Dungeons and Dragons, spoiled rich girls they hate, and various other nerd rap topics?  That I had to hear.  And what I heard definitely suprised me.  Think Outkast with more guitar riffs.

The album really takes off after the first single “Bang! Bang!” comes in.  This first single will get them the most Outkast comparisons, but I doubt they mind.  It’s a dance fest that rivals Outkast songs like “The Whole World” and it’s impossible not to at least bob your head like an idiot every time you listen to it.  Other standouts include the down-tempo coffe loving “Cappuccino”, the rich girl dissing “Daddy’s Little Girl”, the other great dance song on the album “The Train”, and “True”, which tackles the ever-present racial problems in our society with a background singer that sounds like Nelly Furtado and reminds me a lot of Jurassic 5.

When it comes to hip hop, my philosophy is if the rapping itself is pretty unique compared to everything else out there, and especially if it is upbeat, fun, and makes me dance, then I’m all about it.  Since that’s usually not the case, and I devote my new music search mainly to indie rock stuff, most bands like The Knux slip through the cracks.  Luckily I caught these guys’ album, and hopefully some of you look into them.  It’s a fun album that most fans of Outkast will love.  Now, where’s that hip hop DVD Charlie gave me?  I think now’s as good a time as any to finally load my collection up with some great hip hop.

The Knux
Remind Me in 3 Days
Perch Score: 8.249

1.    The List
2.    F!RE (Put It In The Air)
3.    Bang! Bang!

4.    Cappuccino
5.    Roxxanne
6.    Daddy’s Little Girl
7.    The Train

8.    Shine Again
9.    Life In A Cage (Electric)
10.  Pea Knuckle skits
11.  Powder Room
12.  Parking Lot
13.  Hush
14.  Wake The Fuck Up
15.  Playboys
16.  The True
17.  Lights Camera Action

Bonus!:
Cappuccino (remix) [mp3]

Official Site / Myspace / Interview with the Knux
More at the Hype Machine