Death Grips: Zombie holocaust in seconds
May 8, 2011 6:54 PM Subscribe
It started two months ago to the day, when a stuttering/strobing video of angry man obscenely rapping over a spasmodic drumbeat was posted on YouTube from an unknown group who called themselves Death Grips, with the promise of an album and a mixtape within the year. The next day, a new track went up, not furious like the day before, but the rapper sounded a bit hoarse now. More tracks were uploaded every few days, and on April 26th the mixtape was on YouTube, soundcloud, and available to download from their website and other places. Still, little is known about the group, beyond that it's probably a trio and Zach Hill is involved.
Zach Hill is not typically associated with hip-hop, but rather guitar/drum duo Hella, one-time member of Wavves, two name but two of many groups he has been in or worked with (MySpace fan page).
There are reviews-a-plenty of the mixtape, which liken it to club music on crystal meth, more Scorsese than ’98 Eminem, and tie it back to the "very mid-to-late ’90s" when the future of music would bring nothing but [glitchy] apocalyptic war cries. As for similar bands, dropped names include Anti-Pop Consortium, Atari Teenage Riot, Techno Animal, Kid 606 and Dälek, to list a few. And it seems hard to get away from the lyrical content of Tyler, The Creator (See: Pitchfork's run-down of OFWGKTA). But it seems hard to be too tough when playing West End Girls in your mixtape.
Still want more? The group's website has a few more songs to download, plus embedded videos if you don't want to sort through everything uploaded to their YouTube account. They're also active on Twitter, where they comment on the mixtape review on The Needle Drop (YouTube direct link).
Zach Hill is not typically associated with hip-hop, but rather guitar/drum duo Hella, one-time member of Wavves, two name but two of many groups he has been in or worked with (MySpace fan page).
There are reviews-a-plenty of the mixtape, which liken it to club music on crystal meth, more Scorsese than ’98 Eminem, and tie it back to the "very mid-to-late ’90s" when the future of music would bring nothing but [glitchy] apocalyptic war cries. As for similar bands, dropped names include Anti-Pop Consortium, Atari Teenage Riot, Techno Animal, Kid 606 and Dälek, to list a few. And it seems hard to get away from the lyrical content of Tyler, The Creator (See: Pitchfork's run-down of OFWGKTA). But it seems hard to be too tough when playing West End Girls in your mixtape.
Still want more? The group's website has a few more songs to download, plus embedded videos if you don't want to sort through everything uploaded to their YouTube account. They're also active on Twitter, where they comment on the mixtape review on The Needle Drop (YouTube direct link).
Thanks.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 7:45 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by TheGoodBlood at 7:45 PM on May 8, 2011
That's a lot of linx, my buddy from french class just wrote about this guy too. I just found out about him yesterday. I liked it until it started sounding like inspirational rap. Interesting concept for the video I watched. He was in his car rapping, while the image was distorted a lot, with static and changed colors.
posted by thylacine at 7:59 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by thylacine at 7:59 PM on May 8, 2011
Why do I like that first video so much?
posted by benito.strauss at 8:00 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by benito.strauss at 8:00 PM on May 8, 2011
great find, thanks for this. definitely dig the Big Dada/Warp sound.
posted by casconed at 8:04 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by casconed at 8:04 PM on May 8, 2011
I saw Hella once. The guy's one of the most insane drummers I've ever seen - he full on attacks his kit, all four limbs flailing and pinwheeling for entire songs. Between each number he looked like a punch-drunk boxer, swaying on his stool and pouring water on himself. Then eventually, he'd nod and they'd crash into another one.
This looks equally promising. THanks.
posted by mannequito at 8:21 PM on May 8, 2011
This looks equally promising. THanks.
posted by mannequito at 8:21 PM on May 8, 2011
The Zach Hill link says he's worked with Kid 606, maybe the reason it sounds similar is that he's involved? Just a guess by myself.
posted by bobo123 at 9:39 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by bobo123 at 9:39 PM on May 8, 2011
RESPECT
posted by Minus215Cee at 9:46 PM on May 8, 2011
posted by Minus215Cee at 9:46 PM on May 8, 2011
That first link rules, but nothing else by them quite matches that IMO.
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 12:41 AM on May 9, 2011
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 12:41 AM on May 9, 2011
Wow, Full Moon is quite a track. Looking forward to playing the album.
Adding to the above comparisons, from a slightly different mid-to-late '90s angle, I'm hearing shades of John Spencer Blues Explosion, Dub Narcotic Sound System and even The Make-Up.
posted by jack_mo at 7:19 AM on May 9, 2011
Adding to the above comparisons, from a slightly different mid-to-late '90s angle, I'm hearing shades of John Spencer Blues Explosion, Dub Narcotic Sound System and even The Make-Up.
posted by jack_mo at 7:19 AM on May 9, 2011
wow. thanks. this is pretty cool. i especially liked face melter.
some of the sound reminds me of saul williams.
posted by lester at 7:49 AM on May 9, 2011
some of the sound reminds me of saul williams.
posted by lester at 7:49 AM on May 9, 2011
I hereby name this genre shouty-crackers
posted by unSane at 11:45 AM on May 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by unSane at 11:45 AM on May 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
This stuff is really interesting. I like it an awful lot.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:25 PM on May 9, 2011
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:25 PM on May 9, 2011
Thank you! My wife has declared that it cannot be played in the car. This is my new crazy music, and I like it very, very much.
posted by bigbigdog at 1:45 AM on May 14, 2011
posted by bigbigdog at 1:45 AM on May 14, 2011
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I like this. Alot.
posted by gcbv at 7:01 PM on May 8, 2011