Under Cooked Rap Rock

Album: Street Sweeper Social Club

Artist: Street Sweeper Social Club

Genre: Rap Rock

Year: 2009

Label: Warner Music Group

At Sasquatch Festival last year, the biggest surprise I had was Street Sweeper Social Club. A collaborative project between Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Boots Riley (The Coup,) SSSC is the very definition of Radical Left Wing Rap Rock Super Group. This initially made me very wary of them. When Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction embarked on the NINJA Tour last year, they took the SSSC along as the opening act. Trent doesn’t always pick his opening acts very well (Does It Offend You, Yeah?) so I wasn’t at all pacified by that action. The three bands released a tour sample with two SSSC tracks on it, neither of which made me think much of them. “Just Tom Morello’s latest Rap Rock Annoyance” I thought. When I found out they would be playing at Sasquatch right after Mike Watt and the Missingmen, I figured I might as well see them, who knows, I might laugh. At this point the band trouped out on stage in their uniforms, picked up their instruments, and proceeded to invalidate everything I had assumed about them up to that point.

You see, The SSSC puts on a great show. So great, I was left speechless. I had expected nothing from this band and they gave me everything they had, and then some. Rap Rock being what it is, I was genuinely surprised when I found myself enjoying the music. Boots Riley was an engaging frontman: he danced, rallied the crowd, gave us hilarious banter and generally kept the energy up. But the real star of the show was Tom Morello and his guitar. In the words of an ex-girlfriend “Tom Morello doesn’t play the guitar, he just plays.” This is the most apt description I’ve ever heard of the man. Blistering solos, funkified rhythms, playing the guitar with his teeth (not just noodling, but playing the actual song) and playing his hand (yes, his hand) the man can do it all. He threw everything, including the kitchen sink, into the show. Boots Riley at one point commented that “Some people have been saying our guitarist rips off Tom Morello… well, that is because our guitarist IS Tom Morello.” The set was amazing, highlights including The SSSC’s rocked up cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and their own original song “Promenade” which featured both the teeth and hand playing.

Yes indeed, The SSSC proved they were capable of anything with that show. I left that performance feeling excited for their debut album, which at that point was still a month away. Too bad, cause the album’s a piece of crap. Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh… no it’s not, it sucks. The problem here is that you have an album that is far less than the sums of its parts. Three people perform the SSSC’s self-titled album: Boots Riley on vocals, Tom Morello handling guitar and bass and a mysterious drummer. When I checked who it was I was flabbergasted to learn that it was none other than Galactic/Garage A Toris drummer Stanton Moore! How on earth Riley and Morello hooked up with a drummer this badass is unknown to me, but it doesn’t much matter because Moore is just as much to blame as the other two parties for this schlock filled album.

Again, the problem here is that all three ingredients are great: You’ve got Riley’s anger filled leftist rants, Morello’s electric funk blast guitar and Moore’s brilliant drumming. And yet, somehow, the album fails to produce a cake, rather, it’s a piece of bread. Have you ever had that happen? Where you bite into something expecting cake and instead you get bread? No? Well, go see SSSC live and then listen to the album and you’ll know what it feels like. If you were to ask me what’s wrong with this album I just want to say “everything!” but I think I’m a little better at this than that. Basically what’s going on here is that this album is only half-baked (what’s with me and food metaphors today?) The production and performance should be raw, dirty and dangerous (like a Rage Against The Machine album, say?) but instead, it’s too clean, sterilized, devoid of life.

Instead of songs that burst with energy, you get the feeling that these songs were recorded and then vacuum packed, where upon they suffocated. If a Rage Against The Machine song is like ice cream, then a SSSC song is like that freeze dried stuff that astronauts eat (really, this has to stop.) There’s no danger, no excitement, no spark, it’s kind of scary actually, and where’d all that awesome live energy go? To top this all off, no one on this album seems to have the balls to take it to the next level. Listen to it and you’ll know what I mean. Every single time that Morello could unleash a megablast solo or rip us to shreds with his teeth, he doesn’t. Sometimes he steps up, sounds like he’s about to take the plunge, but then steps back and sort shrugs, as if he’s saying “I don’t really feel like it.” Moore and Riley effectively do the same thing with both of their instruments.

On the subject of Riley: it’s hard for me to take radical leftism seriously when I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you had a specific issue to focus on maybe I’d get it, but either you don’t spend enough time fleshing out the facts or you’re not clear enough on the facts you have or you’re too general about everything. Basically what I’m saying is: WHAT HAPPENED?! You were so cool live and now you’re making me miss Zach De La Rocha, who’s voice didn’t always jive with me, but at least his rants felt like they had actual rage behind them. Rage Against The Machine that is! This album should have been awesome, it really should have, and truthfully, I shouldn’t have been so surprised when it wasn’t as great as the band live. But really, it would not have taken that much effort to make it as awesome, just a little more time, a little rawer production and a little more energy, and it would have been golden. Tom Morello, please understand, I still like you. Moore, you’re still the man. Riley, The Coup is bitchen’. But you guys fell down on the job with this one. Please, you can do better next time.

Here are some Links for you:

The SSSC on MySpace

The Whole Album is on YouTube

Band Website

(Don't) Buy The Album