by Patrick Bernard

‘WE CAME TO BLOW YOUR SYSTEM.’ Truly my system has been ravaged. My tin can laptop speakers can barely do justice to the behemoth of sound that is Sacramento experimental hip-hop set Death Grips. Very little I feel, however, could do justice to what is the audible equivalent of being kicked in the shins quite hard by a large man in a gimp suit. As a point of reference think Public Enemy via The Book of Revelation.

They are straight to the point, only the point is not clear. The faraway, disgruntled sound that is Stefan Burnett (MC Ride) is not easy to comprehend, especially when confronted with the mashed remains of what I imagine were a selection of beats at one point. Zach Hill and Andy Morin, the production team and those responsible for all of the noise, appear to approach their own craft and instruments like an elaborate game of whack-a-mole. Their sound sits at a confluence of angry music: industrial, hardcore, hip-hop, metal. Hell hath no fury quite like this band.

Irrespective of what your parents (and your neighbors) might think, however, Death Grips are really quite good. Major-label debut The Money Store is also really quite good, albeit perhaps a little unruly (their previous mixtape release Ex Military is a picnic by comparison). There is some kind of real animal satisfaction to the experience. Like knocking over a sandcastle that isn’t yours to knock over. Give them a listen. I dare you.

The Money Store is available now on Epic Records.

Death Grips – Lost Boys by deathgrips

Download: ‘Get Got’, ‘The Fever (Aye Aye)’