Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 24/07/06
Label: Interscope

There have been changes in the retro-informed world of LA rap band Jurassic 5 of late, but much has stayed the same. Their last LP, "Power In Numbers", brought them to a new level of sales, fame and public acceptance on its release in 2002, and one of their two DJ-producers, Cut Chemist, has jumped ship to pursue a solo career.

Confronted with these twin problems - the loss of a key musical component, and what must be an increasing pressure to make a commercially astute record in an era where the average hip hop fan has never heard the heroes of the pre-Run DMC old school J5 revere and habitually homage - the band have made a record that somehow manages to keep everyone happy, but themselves most of all. If it sounds a tad awkward at times - "Brown Girl", which hitches a two-step-infused beat to a re-sung Boney M chorus; "End Up Like This", a heartfelt but rather forced song of tenderness and concern - it's little wonder. This sort of balancing act requires the suppleness and agility that wins gymnasts Olympic medals. They're bound to fall down occasionally.

What's truly remarkable is how often J5 manage to fuse their own imperatives with music that doesn't sound out of place in 2006. This is never more overt - nor so successful - as on the brilliant "Radio", which starts off with a jokey revisit of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rok's "It Takes Two", then turns into a dazzling evocation of early '80s electro, which does nothing so much as show how every great crunk tune owes their lifeblood to "Planet Rock". The lyrics tell of the Akil, Zaakir, Chali 2na and Mark 7even's schooling in hip hop's fundamentals, and as an attempt to show why rap's history is vital to the music's future, it's peerless. It's also a fantastic record in its own right.

Elsewhere, "In The House" lopes around the sort of disco loop the Sugarhill house band earned their corn replaying, Dave Matthews (of all people) lends "Work It Out" an airy Steely Dan vibe, and "Canto De Ossanha", DJ Nu-Mark's Latin excursion, provides an extra melodic and percussive direction. Best of all is "Red Hot", an unabashed return to their signature style of excavated uptempo breakbeats, primed for neck-snapping head-nod action and call-and-response, bouncing rhymes.

This may not be the album to make J5 household names, and it may not garner them multi-platinum sales and riches untold. But it shows that respecting your roots needn't result in stagnant, bookishly reverent music, and that learning your history can be a fine way of looking forward.

    by Angus Batey