An admitted dilettante of the genre, I was thoroughly entertained by last week’s indie rap showcase featuring Aesop Rock and Mr. Lif. Okay, so I missed the big game (Yankees suck!), but I’m not what you’d call any kind of sports fan anyway. Inspired by the performance, I decided to tackle the superstars of the indie rap world: Slug and Ant, better known as Atmosphere.
Mind you, I came into my self-designated assignment with very little prior knowledge of the group, so I decided if I was going to buy Atmosphere’s new disc, “Seven’s Travels,” I might as well shell out for 2002’s “God Loves Ugly” as a point of reference. The earlier disc gained a lot of press last year and some major-label attention for selling 75,000 copies on the tiny Fat Beats label. Hipsters and heads loved it. Now “Seven’s Travels” has gone on to debut in the Top 100 of the Billboard charts. The reviews have been good, but not great. Hipsters and heads alike seem to sense that something was missing on the new album.
And what is it, pray tell? I’ve been listening to “God Loves Ugly” and “Seven’s Travels” back to back for several days now, and I always seem to gravitate towards the newer record. Sure, the former album intermittently engages with its sparse beats, incisive lyrics and Slug’s evocations of romantic despair. The indelible “F*@k You Lucy” hits home every time. Yet “Seven’s Travels” provides more thrills in its first 10 tracks than “God Loves Ugly” does in 70 minutes.
Perhaps it’s Ant’s production, which crackles with a deeper funk than he’s attempted before. Or maybe it’s Slug’s delivery, bristling with newfound confidence and angst. And the Dirty South-sounding opener “Trying To Find a Balance” sounds like a hit.
Granted, the album does lose some steam after the heady 10-song rush that sets it in motion. But you’d do well to keep listening for Slug’s nightmarish description of an imploding relationship in “Lifter Puller” or the self-deprecating, rump-shaking “National Disgrace.” Slug doesn’t slouch in the trouble-in-love tropes he’s known for either, whether warning women off on “Reflections” or venting about the demands they make in “Suicidegirls.”
This time around, however, his focus is broader. He’s anxious about success, which is understandable, and he’s got no time for the suckers in the hip-hop game who refuse to think about the consequences of their actions, which is justified because he’s good and he knows it. And on an unnamed bonus track he even gives a shout-out to the Twin Cities he hails from. You’ve gotta hope Prince would be proud.
Leave a Reply