This came out at the end of April, but passed me by until I found a torrent of it. This is one of my favorite new school MCs. Right from the first song the new album hits like hip hop should. There is a dark under current to the electronic whirl. His voice is front and center with his dizzying flow schooling the inferior MCs that the masses follow out of ignorance. I was a little worried because his verse on the new Atmosphere felt dialed in, but the first song on this album pretty much blew away Atmosphere's whole album. He slows down a little on "Rings". Then midway into the second song the wheel in my ahead begin to spin and I find myself asking "Is this as good as "None Shall Pass?"
Things go into a weird introspective street smart poetry on "Lotta Years", where he is looking at kids getting tattoos and growing dreads. There is more of a tense 70's funk gangster lean to "Dorks". This song has a great vibe and is true to who he is, even though as far as his flow goes it's a little more accessible. Lyrically this album strikes me as Bavitz looking at whats going on right out his front door rather than dissecting the big picture. The more surreal metaphors that he likes to shoot together are in play on "Rabies". There is a more futuristic pulse of the neon laced groove of "Supercell". Here Bavitz's lyrics duck and dodge around the bass line, with rhymes that make your spin before going back for a second listen to see if he really said that. There is another 80's sci-fi track behind the first half of "Blood Sandwich" before it morphs into funk and then back again. He name checks, Skinny Puppy, Alien Sex Fiend, Ministry and he recalls his brothers early musical interests.
The Impossible kid, who the lyrics describe as being someone who finds everything he touches turns to shit is the subject of "Get out of the Car". He has more to say in the first minute of "Shrunk" that most MCs have come up with in their entire career. The beat to this song is deliberate and grounds his tale of being injected into the system. The beat to "Kirby" gets in your head in such a way that the lyrics almost just paint the background. "Tuff" sounds like it created from video game music. This song is tightly constructed, but doesn't hit me as perfectly as the bulk of this album, calling it filler might be pre-mature."Lazy Eye" delves even deeper into a video game like electronica, with the clever flow of Bavitz gliding easily over the bass line."Defender" finds a more relaxed groove set against a psychedelic backdrop. He never runs out of things to say not matter how bizarre the metaphor gets.
We are back to the space age 80's synths setting off "Water Tower" . It's like haunted kraut rock, but his lyrically delivery remains relentless. The mood is maintained on "Molecules" that closes out the album. This album is relentless and doesn't stop moving. There are no awkward dips into r&b or anything with pop aspirations just bad ass verses that can't be stopped. Yes it holds up to his other work so it gets a 10.
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