No, no, not a comeback.
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[6.50]
Anthony Easton: A smidgen too polite and the vocals too little quiet, and the percussion could be less settled, but it’s genuinely beautiful.
[5]
Alfred Soto: They return after the briefest of hiatuses, its loping beat dedicated to a local goddess with a bubble butt and a weed habit as chronic as the boys’. Amiable and unmemorable.
[6]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Few rap lyrics haunted me like ST 2 Lettaz on his group G-Side’s “Getting’ It”: “I’ve been having nightmares of being broke at thirty.” A lot of the Alabama duo’s material is about hometown pride, finding a business niche and making something of yourself. The pressure to make a living is always there in their music and even though the stresses of doing so take their toll on interpersonal relationships (ST and Yung Clova split in 2012 before reuniting last year), there’s an awed devotion to mastering your craft. “Athena” is a musical hard turn from much of the group’s material, offering a future-haze of Dilla loops over their anything-goes tradition. It’s as close as G-Side gets to conservatism, but it’s still weird enough to sound like the right fit for the duo. And even in the glow of skirtchasing and in a relaxed b-boy stance, they keep their ambition (“a picture so vividly painted like we at Coachella”) and perfectionist streaks (“focus on what is, never live in the present”) for all to see. Keep your eyes on the prize, always.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: This sounds way too slight as a comeback number…and, as I discovered while listening to it, this is actually their second song since getting back together. The return track is great, this is just sorta…OK? Would probably be a nice break on an album.
[5]
Sabina Tang: I heard this first on the Q train, going over Manhattan Bridge: enclosed warmth on a cold but bright winter afternoon, the bubble of one’s private Coachella for two, or a starship rounding the rings of Saturn for that matter. A hazy, smile-conducive valentine.
[8]
Jer Fairall: “Guys like me don’t get girls like you” is groan-worthy, but “girls like them don’t change worlds like you” immediately redeems it, trading self-pity for wonderment. So why does it still sound like they’re trying too hard to impress (her? us?) with references to the Beatles and Coachella?
[6]
Brad Shoup: The runtime whispers “mixtape,” but a mixtape dipped in bronze and burnished. This is lush: Tribe vibes with a surprisingly well-deployed tambourine. Plus a sex/weed scenario that ends on a non-rhyme but sounds plausible nonetheless. I wonder how the Doppelgangaz are going to respond.
[8]
Jonathan Bradley: “I’m on my Tribe Called Quest shit,” begins Clova, but I’m not sure how badly I need G-Side circa 2013 to be Alabama Native Tongues. An airy beat is tied down by two rappers too concerned with the here and now to ever be breezy, and the funk bass popping up through the hook is decidedly agreeable. I’ll nod to their home state and use a Crimson Tide metaphor: I thought homecoming would be more exciting.
[6]