Street Sweeper Social Club
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
Tom Morello is back in the rock rap game with Street Sweeper Social Club, this time teaming up with Boots Riley, a self-proclaimed communist and member of The Coup, a Marxist hip-hop group. Street Sweeper Social Club is a move away from the softer sound of Audioslave’s alternative rock back towards the funk rock of Rage Against the Machine and it doesn’t quite make it to those heights, but it’s a step in the right direction. Maybe Cornell was just a bad fit for a frontman, but it seems like Morello’s music just sounds better when it’s fueled by political views…or anger, though Riley doesn’t have nearly as much fury as Zack de la Rocha. Morello is an outspoken political activist (as well as a nonsectarian socialist) and, along with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, co-founded the Axis of Justice, a non-profit organization designed to “bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.”
This collection of “revolutionary party jams” starts with the strongest track, “Fight! Smash! Win!” and Boots illustrates his lyrical prowess right off the bat with lines like, “If you see my hood, man / you might call it ghetto / politicians are puppets, ya’ll / let’s get Geppetto.” Street Sweeper Social Club might be filled with clever wordplay and Riley might possess fervor, but these songs can’t match the intensity found on any of the Rage albums. The first single, “100 Little Curses,” is a rant against the rich full of wishes of badwill like, “Now you tumble and fall / down your grand marble stairway / may the caviar pâté you were eating / block your airway / may your manservant deliver / the Heimlich, with honor / may this make you vomit on your Dolce Gabbana.” Later on the album, when Riley straps you down and prepares to “Shock You Again” he says, “Your tears beg, the question / why you’re bound in this chair / it’s simply because—hey wait, muthafucka / I ask the questions here.” The grooviest track seems reminiscent of another unplaceable song, but it’s forgivable because “Promenade” is the only “square dance rap” that will ever ask you to “grab your partner by the chaps.”
- Score
- 75%
Street Sweeper Social Club exists somewhere between Audioslave and Rage in terms of sound…the guitar sounds like Morello and the political leanings are back, but the lyrics are more playful this time around. The only part that still isn’t clear after giving the album a listen is whether the party comes before or after the revolution…or maybe they happen at the same time.
