Street Sweeper Social Club
S/T
Warner Music Group
June 16th, 2009
On paper, a group made up of Boots Riley from The Coup and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine sounds like vehemently left-wing magic. The Coup is generally good and occasionally great, with the foundation of their appeal being Riley’s lyrics and delivery. Tom Morello has a long and storied history of bringing awesome riffs in a hip-hop influenced way. Unfortunately, as prophesied by a pair of teaser tracks unleashed months ago on the Internet through a Nine Inch Nails tour sampler, Street Sweeper Social Club’s self-titled debut fails to deliver on that seemingly sure-fire formula.
Opener “Fight! Smash! Win!” sets the tone of mediocrity immediately. After a flanged intro riff, the track settles into a very Rage Against the Machine-style verse riff. Boots brings some skills to the verses, but the chorus is HORRIBLE. It’s clearly meant to sound angry, but the whole track sounds like a crappy photocopy of what angry is, especially the laughably chant-able (read: simplistic) chorus. The verse riff sounds like Morello could have done it with his hands tied behind his back. It brings “Guerrilla Radio” from 1999’s The Battle of Los Angeles to mind.
Lead single “100 Little Curses” is even worse. Following a dull militant drumbeat capped off with harmonics from Morello’s trusty bag of tones, a typically funky guitar phrase underpins verses describing a seres of curses directed at the stuffy upper classes. The chorus, again, is HORRIBLE. “’cept for that muthafucka right there (get him!)” is not what listeners should expect from this proven duo of thoughtful, righteously angry socialists. The solo again leans on Morello’s typical style, with his scratching and toggle switch stylistics branding his unmistakable stamp on it. The worst thing about this track is that it has a reasonably decent idea behind it, but it’s nowhere near as funny or piercing as Boots Riley is capable of, as evidenced by The Coup on tracks such as “We Are the Ones,” a ghetto tale delivered in an upper-crust accent.
With the album’s rut already thoroughly constructed, Street Sweeper Social Club begins to rehash itself. “The Oath” begins with a gentle guitar intro, followed by a solid verse riff and a huge beat. This is yet another sub-par chorus. The copious amounts of expletives strewn about the choruses of this album are totally unnecessary, and serve only to dumb down the offering and dilute its revolutionary impact. While Boots can be extremely literate and articulate, these choruses seem written solely for simpletons and frat boys to chant in a live setting, pumping their Coor’s Light-clenching fists in the air while sporting their American Eagle Che Guevara T-shirts. “The Squeeze” fares better than the three tracks preceding it. More typical Morello phrasing dominates the track, but in this case, the arrangement is slightly more gripping, as is the lyrical delivery. The chorus works, only because Boots steps back and lets Morello’s guitar bring the angst.
“Clap for the Killers” brings some more engaging Morello guitar theatrics, sounding vaguely reminiscent of tracks like “Calm Like A Bomb” and “Mic Check.” Boots sounds laid back, bringing a proper rap flow to this track which he hangs all over the stomping groove. The song also brings an interesting, if unoriginal, lyrical statement. The solo surprises, being sublimely unhurried for something played by Tom Morello. “Somewhere in the World it’s Midnight” is basically “It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere,” only for the angst-ridden rather than the booze-hounds. The verse holds some decent rhymes, but generally, this is another underwhelming track.
Bringing with it a welcome increase in tempo and a distant-yet-powerful drumbeat, “Shock You Again” infuses this album with a little energy boost in the middle. Morello lets the drums lead as he mirrors their rhythm with his guitar. The first verse is genuinely interesting, with Boots flexing his skill and his sense of humour, but then the chorus spoils it again. “Good Morning Mrs. Smith” begins with an unfortunately poppy sounding riff, almost as if Nickleback enlisted a rapper. This is another proper rap, with Boots following the groove, while Morello takes a boring backseat until the huge riff he drops during the characteristically weak chorus. The shout out to Sly Stone (“dancin’ in my kitchen with Sly Stone’s permission”) is telling of Boots Riley’s depth of musical understanding and knowledge, while also being an indication of how much of a failure this album is. Chuck D and KRS-One were spitting rhymes more incendiary and exciting than this 20 years ago, and Boots should know it. He can, and should, do better.
Speaking of Chuck D, “Megablast” shares its name with a 1987 Public Enemy song, and the chorus features a sample of Chuck D from the aforementioned P.E. track (this, and a reference to “Revolution Rock” from London Calling makes this a song after my own heart). Beginning with an enormous drumbeat and a swell of Morello’s guitar texture, the song rests on a simple riff that lets Boots own the verse. However, the best that can be said about this track is that it’s not as bad as some of the others on this album. The end of the song features a pulsing guitar squelch that sounds like an alarm, which is a nice touch.
Penultimate track “Promenade” is the most original of the album, and possibly the best. Sounding like “Another One Bites the Dust” with a tick-tocking drumbeat, it’s an entertaining listen. The chorus is lifted from the murk of Street Sweeper Social Club chorus hell by some surprisingly sweet female backup vocals as Boots spits bomber raids and red stars. The guitar solo sounds like it came from an 80’s metal song, but it’s nice to hear Morello breaking out of his comfortable Rage Against the Machine zone. “Nobody Moves (‘Til We Say Go)” begins with an extended intro featuring a huge heavy riff. A tension and release structure makes this a dynamic listen compared to some others on the album. Boots brings another solid rap. Morello’s solo is more of the same wah-pedal work. An epiphany nearly occurs in a quick moment after the whispered portion of this song, where the drums tease of a hardcore breakdown for the final moment of the song, which would have been a welcome send-off. Instead, a meandering guitar solo fades out and waves us goodbye. Good riddance.
Street Sweeper Social Club is disappointing and underwhelming. Its pair of firebrands try to accomplish something revolutionary, yet what they achieve isn’t even evolutionary. Boots Riley sounds generally uninspired. The wit and attitude evident in his work with The Coup is mostly absent from this recording, replaced by numbing sloganeering and meaningless tossed-off f-bombs. Tom Morello, on the guitar (and bass guitar) side of things, sounds like most of his ideas were dug from his own past and presented under a new name. His musicianship is solid as always, but is uninspired and less potent than it ever was with Rage Against the Machine. Compare “Township Rebellion” on 1992’s Rage Against the Machine to Street Sweeper Social Club. There’s your musical genealogy. Surely the man’s learned something new in 17 years. It just won’t be found here.
Overall: Weak
