Death Grips - Year of the Snitch: Album Review

 

Yeah I'm reviewing a Death Grips album. Don't overthink this.

So chances are if you follow my blog at all (most likely consisting of elitists who found me via Metal-Archives) you probably don't know who the Death Grips are. Basically Death Grips is the last true punk band. With every album they through caution to the wind to create some of the most mind blowing (and shitpost fueled) experimental hip hop on the face of the earth. They've covered noise rock, electronic music, gabber music, and even fucking black metal. So yeah, I've been following the group closely the past year or so just to see what they put out, and this year they have a new album called “Year of the Snitch” out and I'm going to talk about it.

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect with this new album. As mentioned previously, the Death Grips have covered so many genres and styles that having any expectations for their albums at this point is kind of pointless. However, recent projects like Steroids and Bottomless Pit have touched on the ultra fast gabber music and chaotic punky noise rock, so I was looking forward to seeing them do something more with that. While I didn't exactly get all of that I was still pretty satisfied with this LP.

My biggest problem with Year of the Snitch is how almost all tracks that weren't previously released are also the weakest tracks on the LP. The opener, “Death Grips is Online” is just that, an opener. Setting the stage for the album with a nice and noisy track that might as well be an instrumental, but also doesn't really have the depth and catchy rhythm of later tracks, so it's hard to really sink your teeth into it. “The Horn Section” is very similar being a transitional track, but its so short and inconsequential that it's barely worth mentioning, just acting as a chance for Zach and Andy to jam. “The Horn Section” may be my least favorite track on the album considering with a title like that I was expecting some jazzy influence or even, dare I say a horn section, but no, it's a common instrumental that goes just as quickly as it came. “Little Richard” is a track I'm not too keen on either. It's got the noisy quality of the first half of “The Powers that B”, but similarly to most of that album it's so chaotic and lacking in teeth that I just tune out when it comes on. And lastly, “Outro” doesn't really need to be there. It's got a neat lo fi garage rock style, sounding something like a leftover I.L.Y.'s track cut down to about 40 seconds.

If it sounds like I'm really disappointed by Year of The Snitch, it's cause I was, at least after first listen. I was really excited by the preview tracks and was hoping the full record would double down on everything I had heard, as well as throw in some of those gabber sounds from their previous EP. While those gabber sounds are unfortunately absent, everything else on Year of The Snitch just plain rules. I absolutely love so many of the tracks on this album. I love “Black Paint”'s harsh guitars coupled with Ride's animalistic shouts. I love “Streaky”'s bouncy and catchy electronic sound. And I especially love “Hahaha”'s chill psychedelic vibe. That guitar in the chorus is absolutely flawless. “Linda's In Custody” offers a similar catchy dance vibe to “Streaky”, and the closing track “Disappointment” has Ride's best vocals on the record (he sounds like he is doing trade off vocals with himself), some excellent jazzy drums from Zach, and the wonderful Ride screaming “WHYYYYY ME???”. “Shitshow”'s blast beats are so fast and chaotic they're practically lifted from a grindcore track, and “Dilemma” offers a more easy going rock affair. Like say, the band's mixtape, Exmilitary, all these sounds work together to create a cohesive noisy experiment rather than a huge and messy mish mash, so everything sounds driving and exciting rather than a wall of impenetrable garbage.

So yeah, Year of The Snitch is good. You shouldn't be so surprised. Death Grips put together fantastic music, and even with the aforementioned filler tracks the album still flows together really well and doesn't overstay its welcome at about 40 minutes in run-time. Personally I'm still disappointed that certain sounds from Steroids didn't get fleshed out on Year of the Snitch, but what's offered here is more than enough to satisfy fans and newcomers alike.

8/10