Before Bangers & Cash, Spank Rock broke out with 2006's Buy MP3 Album -- an album that thrilled some (like Thom Yorke) and offended others (like Pitchfork). But one thing it did unequivocally was establish Naeem Juwan's lyricism and XXXChange's production as razor-sharp: flailing lightsabers instead of Wu-Tang swords and elbowing censors to the side.

Rick Rubin , the first single, is a huge, pounding homage to Rubin the producer and Def Jam co-founder, whose own versatility (having produced albums for Run-DMC, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Slayer) inspired the genre-mashing hip hop that Spank Rock pushes even further. What It Look Like could be a slowed-down Squarepusher, with plucked violin and a chopped, stuttering beat; it already sounds like a brilliant remix, even before Ghislain Poirier had the idea to mash the vocals with Daft Punk on his own Bounce le Remix.

One thing to get straight though: the album is pretty amazingly crude. The first word is "ass." It goes down a sleazy hill from there, and it's more difficult to excuse blatant chauvinism when it's not surrounded by the 2 Live Crew nostalgia of Bangers & Cash (see Sean Fennessy's conflicted review).

But really. Next time you see a little girl singing the chorus to "Candy Shop," think about how problematic this album actually is. This is not for kids (or the population at large), and unlike Joe Camel and 50 Cent, it doesn't try to be.

What it is is ambitious, and coldly futuristic, and still sweaty enough for the club. Calling it "party rap" gives the wrong impression -- there aren't any terribly memorable hooks, and if you put this on at an average party people will complain. But XXXChange is absolutely on fire the whole time. Baltimore bass and cowbells and Nintendo synths and a freaking panther scream on Touch Me ... it's just unreal how hard this goes.

when this record came out [...] it cut through all the sh*t for me. it was like a slap 'round the face. the computers speaking over their reference points and pointing to something brand new. turn it up. -- Thom Yorke

"Turn it up" is probably the best advice. Like them or not, at a certain volume your body's no longer responding to the lyrics. If Naeem Juwan and Amanda Blank wanna rap about sex, why not? Everyone has a muse. Until Spank Rock starts recording campaign anthems, I say there's no harm in a good time.

Featured Tracks:
Rick Rubin
What It Look Like

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