Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
4/5
In the seven years since To the 5 Boroughs, the Beasties have all turned 40. Ad Rock’s married. And MCA has fought a battle with cancer. But has it made them any less goofy? No way. Originally intended to be the first of a two-part album, they decided to release Hot Sauce as …Part Two. Albeit ‘with all its songs replaced by the 16 tracks we originally had lined up… for Part One.’ So why not call it …Part One? Like we said: goofy.
None of the fun has gone out of their lyricism, either. Subjects include funky donkeys, eating chocolate fondue in the bath, and the odd bit of weirdness that’s too daft to decipher (‘I’m back with a bang: boogie. Oogie oogie’). But it’s the rhythmical flair of the Beasties’ flows that have long been their lyrical strong point. ‘Nonstop Disco Powerpack’ sees them funkily slotting rhymes into Latino polyrhythms, and the louche, groovesome delivery of ‘Long Burn the Fire’ has them rhyming till the clock stops.
There are snatches of the mutoid futurism of … 5 Boroughs, lots of clangy Check Your Head-ish echo, and half the tracks are propelled by the droney fuzz bass customary of a band who began as a hardcore outfit. Yet on ‘Crazy Ass S***’, sunny accordion loops and samples of a nattering child combine to create a feelgood psych-ish haze. And Santogold collab ‘Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win’ is chirpy retro reggae. Probably not an album that’s going to convert Beasties naysayers. But fans will eat it up like a tasty pudding. As Mike D says, ‘The proof’s in the pudding, and the pudding’s in my pants. You’ve heard me rap, now watch me dance.’ Gooftastic.
