Album Reviews – Street Sweeper Social Club

For this album review, meandthestereo did something a little different and handed off the album to two of our columnists. Check out Belle’s (from the East Coast) and Renato’s (from Austin, TX) differing takes on this album!

  Artist: Street Sweeper Social Club
  Album: Street Sweeper Social Club
  Label: Warner
  Release Date: June 16th, 2009
  Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…You’ll enjoy it, but go download the singles first!
  Favorite Tunes: “100 Little Curses”

 

1. The Background

Belle says,

Street Sweeper Social Club is Tom Morello and Boots Riley.  There is a great video on youtube of both of them describing the origins of the band. Boots Riley says that these songs are, “anthems for the revolution.”  Morello says that they both, “go to a lot of rallies.”  Both musicians agree that they are tired of boring, peaceful protest songs.  Also, they were wanting to create choruses that people can latch onto easily.

They are “outspoken policial activists” (via wikipedia) to put it mildly.  Morello formed the organization “Axis of Justice” to bring people together for social justice. I thought the organization’s website was very informative; what better way to directly address issues of social justice.  You can hear Boots Riley’s perspective on different issues during an episode of Politically Incorrect on Youtube. So, upon investigation via the internet, Morello and Riley are actually very articulately bringing together social justice and catchy music.

and Renato adds,

As has been said by Belle, Boots Riley and Tom Morello are the primary members of Street Sweeper Social Club.  Boots Riley, member of The Coup and outspoken political activist (but who isn’t this day and age?) teamed up with Morello to form a side project that just about sounds like Rage Against the  Machine.

2. The Substance

Belle says,

When I first started listening to this album, I was driving by myself in the car.  It’s embarrassing, but I felt like a badass listening to the catchy songs.  The overall quality of the album is great.  I think anyone who remotely listened to Rage Against the Machine is really going to enjoy it. After listening for a while, I noticed how aggressive the lyrics are.  I’m not necessarily against that; I think it is great for anyone to have an outlet for any aggression that is non-violent.  But it got me wondering…. who are these m—-f—ers that they keep talking about?  Who exactly are the songs for or against?

Renato counters with,

Morello, with his fortissimo guitar riffs and very ascertainable sound is shared with Riley’s sharp and irascible lyrics.  Although Riley’s lyrics were aggressive, I did not find them to be aggressive enough.  In fact, with the sound that they were going for, the fact that they conveniently sounded a little bit too much like RATM, I felt that Riley sounded more like a banal type of Zack de la Rocha rather than his own style of aggressive-activist-hip hop.

3. The Decision

Belle says,

I really enjoy listening to this album, I think they did a great job.  My favorite song is the second one on the album, “100 little curses.”  I got a big smile on my face when I first started listening to it.  The combination of driving rhythms, great guitar hooks, and enticing lyrics make the album fantastic.  What can I say, you should go out and listen to it yourself.

but Renato thinks,

All this being said, there were songs that I did like, despite my criticisms above; the familiar RATM sound is welcome.  Their single, 100 little Curses, is a good catchy tune with a sing-along chorus.  In fact a couple of their songs have a few catchy lines such as “may your pinot be sour” which can be cute.  All in all this is more of a “download” album.  Not all of the songs are going to be enjoyable, so really its best to just download the ones you like and keep those for your mp3 player or protest mix tape, whatever floats your boat.

Well, there you have it! Looks like Belle and Renato agreed that there are some good songs, but they both gave varying levels of praise. Looks like the album deserves a “3/5 Mediocre” score, which means you should check out the album, but maybe not buy the whole thing. Let us know if you agree or disagree with Belle or Renato in the comments!