Death Grips - "Year of the Snitch

Death Grips ladies and gentlemen.  The Experimental Hip Hop / Art Rap / Punk Rock / Noise project hailing from California that's had us on our toes seemingly forever.  They've broken up seemingly endless times, screwed with their fans, and we love every minute of it, don't we?  The first time I experienced Death Grips was on 2011's powerhouse of a Mixtape "Exmilitary".  This album showed the Experimental trip sampling everything from Black Flag to Janes Addiction, to Link Wray, to Charles Manson.  But it all done masterfully.  From "Takyon (Death Yon)" to "Klink", it was all done so brutally, with such a blood-pumping intensity that I couldn't resist.  Instantly Death Grips had their own sound that was so different than everything else on the market.  In 2012 they returned with the even bigger, more intense, more experimental and certainly weirder "The Money Store".  Death Grips here stepped away from the more sample-based style for some more live instrumentation.  The result was a seriously incredibly experience.  "The Money Store" represented a sort of "End of Innocence" in the world, and we had front row seats.  Tracks like "I've Seen Footage" and "Hacker" almost had intense grooves to it, while tracks like "The Fever (Aye Aye)" represented so much of the anger in the world in 2012.  They returned later that year with "No Love Deep Web.  This album was much more focused on big electronic beats and less on Glitchy, intense Hip Hop.  And for the most part, I thought this album was sort of average for Death Grips.  Tracks like "Black Dice" and "Lock Your Doors" were intense and really fantastic.  But so much of the rest of the album seemed so much less busy and paranoid.  And I'll be honest, 2014's "Government Plates" has never been my favorite of the band's projects.  It's certainly angry and explosive.  But this project almost sounds like an MC Ride solo album, and that's just not what I was interested in hearing.   And we all know what happened next.  Rumors of a break up here.  One "final album" there.  Rumors rumors rumors.  Jenny Death when?  We eventually got 2015's "The Powers That B".  It's an album that I'm torn on.  The first disk has always completely escaped me almost, seeming dreadfully unfocused and just plain strange.  But disk 2, "Jenny Death" was the reinvigorating, wild experiment I wanted to hear from the band.  This disk was incredible, with tracks like the explosive "On GP" and the off the rails "Beyond Alive" being major standouts.  While the first disc wasn't too exciting, the second disk showed to me that Death Grips had plenty to still give us.  But one thing that I always know to do with Death Grips, is never let your guard down.  In 2016, they released their most pummeling, intense and Punk-spirited album "Bottomless Pit".  To some, this sounded like the unraveling of MC Ride's being, while others noted this album sounded like a rebirth of Bad Brains.  Whatever you want to call it, it's ridiculously good.  From industrial bangers like "Bubbles Buried In This Jungle", to Social commentary like "Eh", to the blast of an opener "Giving Bad People Good Ideas", it was clear that Death Grips somehow were still putting out some of their best material.  So anything is always possible with Death Grips.  And if you have been following along with these singles, you'll know that.....well we can really expect anything.  I mean some of these singles have been total garbage, but others have been some of the best tracks they've done in years.  Let's chat guys and gals. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoZgZT4DGSY

(A personal favorite of mine!)

This album starts off with “death grips is online”, the iconic phrase that you know damn well what it means.  Right off the bat, what the hell even is this?  I feel like I’m traveling light speed through some computer on 6 Red Bulls.  It’s erratic, wild, and totally Death Grips.  It’s not nearly the Hardcore Punk sound they were toying with on their last album, just the opposite actually.  But when things get cooking, it’s got just as much raw energy and aggression, all from MC Ride’s vocals alone.  I do have to say though, this is surprisingly on the rails for a Death Grips track, in a  good way.  Sure, it’s will and intense.  But I would be lying if I said this was the blast of sound we were used to hearing.  Thankfully, Death Grips make it work, and this actually comes off like the urgent intro I wanted to hear.  And honestly, if they were to incorporate more electronic sounds, this would be the way to go.  Then we have “flies” which actually really caught me off guard the first time I heard it.  Mostly because sadly just how lackluster it is.  There isn’t a single moment here that MC Ride comes off as more than just another angry Alternative Rap MC.  Like, he once came off so charismatic, and trust me he still is.  But “flies” is sloppy as hell.  I dig the lyrical performances and all.  But despite being one of the earliest singles dropped from the album, I can’t help but feel like this was thrown together.  The beat is nonexistent, and Ride stumbling over this verse is not the excitement I crave.  But thankfully, Death Grips bounce back in a gigantic was with “black paint”.  This is the sort of muscular, noisy, legitimately experimental track that I needed to hear.  Ride sounds absolutely fucking dangerous with this intro.  No longer does he come off as mildly agitated, he comes off like an absolute monster.  Then we have these muddy, almost melodic Industrial riffs crashing all around.  “black paint’ isn’t pristine, it’s muddy and aggressive and 100% where I want to hear Death Grips.  It keeps their legendary sound intact, but it also shows them pushing more and more into fields of Rock and Metal, and that excites the hell out of me.  On the other hand, “linda’s in custody” starts off with this very hard to place bear.  Between that and the very whimsical atmosphere, this is a real shot out of left field.  But in the best way, trust me.  In a way, this is a sort of back to basics sound for the band, with them stripping down a lot of the abrasive guitars and samples for a much more simple instrumental.  But in its place, we get this legitimately paranoid verse from MC Ride the likes of we haven’t heard in years.  There’s also elements of their EP from last year, so if you were into that very hectic and urgent sound check this out.  Then we have “the horn section”, which is even more frantic and more urgent, with nothing but these ridiculous drums from Zach Hill and these blasts of synths that I dare you to keep track of.  It’s only a minute and change, but for an interlude from a band who I’m not used to hearing this from, it carries things along nicely.  And I just love the synths here, it makes me feel like I’m listening to Com Truise on steroids. 

Maybe by now, you’ve noticed, but all bets are off with this album.  You really don’t know what you’re going to hear from one track to the next.  On “ha ha ha” we get some samples of early Death Grips tracks with screams of “DESTROYER!!” followed by other genuinely freakish samples.  The beat here is so much more suffocating and immense, and it just sort of closes in on you.  And the riff here is just so destructive, and it has the sort of devilish playfulness that the band had on “The Money Store”.  And I just love the confidence on MC Ride’s verse.  He’s spitting with such a confidence its not even funny.  But like I said, at this point all bets are off, making for one of the more legitimately exciting albums I’ve heard in a while.  Take for example “shitshow”.  As this album rolls on it gets more and more apparent that the band is really intent on sampling their early material more and more, which is fine.  Because trust me there's enough organic material here to make it all fresh.  So, uh, this track?  What the hell is even happening anymore?  If people called “Bottomless Pit” the second coming of Bad Brains, this literally sounds like Death Grips covering Bad Brains.  And hell yea, it’s awesome.  It’s just so explosive, with the verses being absolutely pummeling, all leading up to this almost goofy chorus.  Just sign me up for more of this, please.  But at some point, everyone has to hit a wall and slow down a bit.  And my friends, “streaky” is one hell of a downer.  Ever since I first heard this track I just didn’t get it.  It reminds me of “Eh” from the band’s last album, in a way that lyrically it’s an important tune in the band’s discography.  But MC Ride’s performance is just so off here.  He doesn’t sound interested at all, and the beat is just so average that it sounds like someone imitating Death Grips.  “Year of the Snitch” truly gets more bizarre by the minute.  Next up is “dilemma”, and we get the collaboration between Death Grips and the director of the Shrek movies that the internet exploded over.  This one has these very retro 80’s synths that I’m actually sort of obsessed with.  It doesn’t end up watering anything down as they sort of hang around in the background as this one pummels on.  I feel like Death Grips are embracing more and more of a Punk attitude by the day, this time with a heavy riff and this incredibly catchy and memorable chorus.  “dilemma” is absolutely awesome, and proves that you really can’t let your guard down with Death Grips.  On the other hand, “little richard” brings in the sort of abrasive beat that we honestly haven’t heard too much of just yet.  And the pummeling, intense beat that follows is pretty awesome.  I love how this one ends up coming off like a warped and tortured Pop tune.  Now, I do sort of wish this one had more of a presence of MC Ride.  But for an experimental tune from a highly experimental band, this is solid. 

But like I said, you never really truly know what to expect from a Death Grips album.  All I have to say is what the actual fuck is “the fear”?  This very artsy, glamorous beat just doesn’t sound like it fits the band at all.  The pacing on this track is an absolute joke, mostly because it doesn’t exist.  And MC Ride’s flow is swallowed up completely by all of the nonsense going on around him.  This is just a really amateurish track, and that whole intro about the guy drinking blood is practically Death Grips parodying themselves.  This track is laughable.  “outro” pummels on as another solid interlude.  I like the thoughts here and all, and the playing under all of these effects actually sounds cool.  But the real star of these final few tracks is “disappointed”.  This is an absolutely wild and intense finale, with some of the most truly brilliant performances of the entire album.  Ride sounds like a freak of nature here as he absolutely screams his head off.  The drums are intense, the samples are wild, this is the final blast of energy that I didn’t know I even wanted.  It’s freakish at times, chilling, but every time you sort of get into the groove, Death Grips come along and switch things up on you, sort of like this entire album. 

Rating: 8.3/10

Give A Listen To: “death grips is online”, “black paint”, “ha ha ha”, “shitshow”

Least Favorite Track: “the fear”

Genre: Experimental Rap 

Overall Thoughts:  Death Grips are back with what may just be their most Experimental and truly bonkers album to date.  Between sampling themselves, bringing in more Rock influence than ever and working with a fuller sound than ever, the band sounds refreshed.   It’s also one of the most varied and of their releases to date, with the band almost constantly shifting sounds and styles at a moments notice.  Now, if you’re a fan of the band, you’ll be happy to hear that everything that made the band once truly groundbreaking is back in a big way.  The masochistic lyrics, the urgent and paranoid performances, the blistering instrumentals, it’s all here in spades.  And while no, not every Experiment here works, for the most part, this is a wildly entertaining album from one of the most genuinely out there bands around.