This record features 3 of my favourite rappers. There, I said it. I admire Lars’ ability to put the moaning attitude of every forum user around the world in today’s tech-savvy state to a track and rhyme about it, so surely guest appearances by one of the original nerdcore rappers, mc chris (lower case, playground playa 5th grader for life..), and Ill Bill – one of the driving forces behind the Non-Phixion group could only lead to genius…
There are 14 tracks on this CD and, after literally dozens of listens, I conclude that 12 are brilliant (although 2 are repeated from The Laptop Ep – Signing Emo and iGeneration). One of the weaker tracks ‘Crunk rap’ is still very good lyrically, but the actual beat has been sacrificed to the parody Gods rather than tuned to be anything catchy. Similarly ‘Time Machine’ is a funny if short ditty about saving assassinated public figures via use of a time machine – the lyrics aren’t particularly clever but it offers up a minute’s worth of wry smiles. The inclusion of the tracks from The Laptop EP is obviously a bonus for those new to Lars, but there’s nothing different about them. The catchiness of tracks like Ahab (featuring a sample of ‘Moving’ by Supergrass, which works unimaginably well) is unreal – I think it’s possibly the best song he’s ever written. Similarly ‘Rap Girl’ and ‘Internet Girlfriend’ are other examples which are destined to become fan favourites in no time at all.
It’s true that most artists realise that the music landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. More so than ever before people are buying an image associated with a certain genre of music as opposed to just into the fanbase of a particular artist. As he puts it in ‘Download This Song’: “fans buy the shirt, then they get the MP3”.
MC Lars is not the world’s greatest rapper, in the traditional sense. Let’s get that straight. He lacks the flowing abilities of even his guest artists on this record, but he’s got a style more personable, cheeky and amiable than most artists you could care to name check. Every song here is grinning at you like a chimp and done with self-awareness that only a select few others seem to manage. And that is why he will continue to be a success.
However, he will always tread a difficult line. Traditional hiphop fans hate the way he’s simplified their genre beyond the point of parody and become a huge success because of it; punk fans either instantly relate to the tongue-in-cheek nature of his music or they lambaste him for even thinking of associating himself with the punk world. It’s very easy to see that Lars has come a long way since he dropped the Horris from his name; The Graduate will be attacked for being overly self-analytical and forced, but I urge you to look past those inevitable comments from close-minded reviewers – it’s a cracking record.
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Spud