ALBUM OF THE YEAR

DEATH GRIPS

THE MONEY STORE

     Death Grips.  The name itself brings up images of pain, paranoia, and anger.  Once you hear their music it all makes sense.  Sickly synthesizers, scary samples, frantic drumming, and most of all MC Ride's terrifying bellow creates an entire horrific atmosphere. 

   But it's not just a one-trick pony.  These songs are crafted with precision.  They have subtlety, if you could believe it.  They have careful placement of certain rhythms, like the drop in "Punk Weight".  These songs have danceable beats, heavy bass, and actual hooks.  It's for this reason that they can be called "innovative".  Their combination of hip-hop, noise, industrial, techno, and bass music is unlike anything most people have ever heard.  It's rooted in so many different essential groups and yet it carves out a unique sound.

    The opener "Get Got" is the tamest song on the record.  MC Ride's flows are more traditional and the beat easier to bob you head to.  Then they blow the doors off with "The Fever (Aye Aye)".  MC Ride bellows while Zach's furiously fast feet bust out a head crushing groove.  Songs like "Lost Boys" and "Fuck That" ditch conventional rhythm and structure for a groove-less attack on conventionality.

    The final song "Hacker" ties everything together though.  It combines MC Ride's spoken-word ramblings with samples and punchy synths for a sonic roller-coaster.  And when the chorus finally emerges, an excited MC Ride sings for the only time on the LP: 'I'm in your area'.  Death Grips are in our area, and their here to stay, but what they didn't expect is that they're more than welcome to.

10/10