Death Grips – The Money Store

April 24, 2012 • Epic Records

Hopping on the hype train once again, it's time for Death Grips' The Money Store, this month's indie hip hop critic darling. As it turns out, there's good reason for that. I'm only marginally familiar with their debut Exmilitary, and I liked it; this, though, is one of the most interesting followups I've heard. It's on a major label and offers a more catchy sound, yet somehow at the same time it's still dense and impenetrable. And, yes, it's good.

Happily, Death Grisps seems to be intensely deconstructing their hardcore freak-out style and seeing what new things they can do with it. The Money Store's beats have become a bit softer, catchier, and more "west-coast-sounding", but the result is just as good as their debut. The songs can be a bit hit-or-miss (there are a couple lame tracks like "Fuck That"), but when they hit they hit hard. "Hustle Bones", for instance, has a huge bassy distorted beat that is still somehow nicely danceable; "Hacker" has a fantastic and infections house beat and a great hook; there are too many examples to list them all. Many of the new sounds heard draw from various electronic genres (there's lots of indie electronic, IDM, bastardized downtempo, house, and of course the surprisingly-awesome poppy style of "I've Seen Footage"), which is wildly successful. And some tracks still have that nice dissonant creepy sound I liked on Exmilitary, like "Lost Boys" and the crazy bass wobble on "System Blower", so there's quite a mix of styles here. On the whole the production isn't as thick as before, but it's more nuanced and rewarding.

The rapping leaves a bit to be desired, though; MC Ride's vocals here are more "normal", unlike Exmilitary, with very little of the intense yelling that made that album memorable. It's one of the elements that made Exmilitary as compelling as it was, and to hear it so downplayed here makes me feel like there was some wasted potential. However, here it does fit the beats' softer and more melodic style really well, so I'm not going to complain too much. And there is still harsher rapping to be found here and there.

On the whole The Money Store is definitely a strong album, among some of the most interesting hip hop I've heard to come out in the last couple years (though admittedly I don't keep up as much as I probably should). It's not perfect, and there are a few filler tracks here and there (as much as the album tries to make you forget about them), but I would say it does live up to most of its hype and has its share of really good tracks.

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