Flatbush Zombies

A trio of mad chemists with time on their hands, Flatbush Zombies are your worst nightmare. Having severed ties with mainstream America last July with their free mixtape (a decidedly anti-establishment romp aptly titled D.R.U.G.S.), Juice, Meech and Erick return with a scheme to make dropouts give less of a shit. BetterOffDEAD contains an unrelentingly manic, pulsating energy within its horrorcore aesthetic, threatening after every bridge or interlude to explode in a mushroom cloud of Technicolor plasma. "Bliss," with its creeping keys, crashing cymbals and maraca, celebrates childlike ignorance, as Meech drags his vocal chords through a meat grinder while keeping with the "fuck you" foil predominating the track. "LiveFromHell" strikes a high note, with producer Harry Fraud dropping the veil of electric guitar for Meech to belch, "You say you want the highest, well I am him," over synths that rise and fall like the tides. The telling line of the project occurs on "Minephuck," where Juice says, "How you a boss with a pink tie on?" Breathing life into the once-rebellious spirit of hip-hop, Flatbush Zombies do things their way. With its half-baked skits making fun of the trio's DIY philosophy, Erick's meandering, oftentimes jarring production and two radio-unfriendly singles ("MRAZ" and "Palm Trees"), BetterOffDEAD smears its enigmatic, anti-everything message in feces across town hall as if it were a call-to-arms.