The irony of a divisive, Republican, pro-gun lobby stoker of political violence, being shot by a Republican supporter yesterday (and with an AR-15 no less) would be hilarious were it not for the fact that it’ll now turbocharge Republican paranoia and – er – violence. What we need are two heroes to tell it like it really is on new release the I’m Not Chillin EP. (Re)enter Jerry Beeks and Ollie Miggs a.k.a. Bronx Slang whose lyrics of fury cut through the BS like a hot knife through butter. But who’s providing the music that underpins the duo’s mic manipulations here? Enter Finland’s Cut Beetlez! The opener and title track is powered by an ominous slo-mo beat crackling with a post-apocalyptic fuzz that seems more appropriate by the minute – as Beeks notes – “The cost of livin’ don’t depend on how much gwap you’re getting/ Fear, fear not cuz everything you got they gettin.” Up next, and even more apposite given this weekend’s news, the piano-led beat on Liars underpins Beeks and Miggs considering the vanishingly slim possibility of getting to the truth in an era of staggering political mendaciousness. Kill The Rapper meanwhile sees Beeks announce that, “the sounds you are about to hear could be devastating to your ear.” He’s not kidding – what follows is a cacophonous beat that seems to have been sonically inspired by whale murder. Presumably the noise is intended as a sonic metaphor for the state of the nation given lyrics which touch on issues including the attempted 6 January insurrection of 2021. Final track, Next To Drip, adds a jaunty jazzy counterpoint to the doom, and finds Beeks on lead vocals with a repeated refrain of, ‘Awwwww shit,” running throughout. It’s a fair summary of things. Cut Beetlez & Bronx Slang then, they’re not chillin’ – and who can blame them given the circumstances?
(Out now on Splitwax Records).
