BEANS' intriguing recent EP "Down By Law" was a timely reminder of why this fast-shootin' NYC streetsmart maverick has established himself as something of a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to his eerily sparse, bass-heavy backdrops and lightning-fast verbal dexerity, he seemed like a notable antidote the the usual, yawn-inducing, bitches', ho's and blingin' bollocks that passes for Hip-Hop these days.
Sadly, though, across a full LP, Beans is a rather less savoury repast. Yes, I grant you "Shock City Maverick" has its' moments (we'll get to that in a minute), but it's also fatally flawed and becomes a rather tedious proposition through one exacting 40-minute sitting.
The main problem is that Beans falls foul to the kind of rampant sexism I'd previously felt he was capable of adroitly avoiding. Tracks like "Blind Driver" and especially "I'll Melt You" are both spoiled by both testosterone-fuelled braggodocio and Beans' seemingly unstoppable vitriol. The former is rammed with sexist tosh like: "Women often wonder why he rhyme so fast, or wonder how fast my tongue can flash in their ass." Yeah, yeah,put it away: we've heard it all before. "I'll Melt You", though, is considerably more annoying, with Beans basically hitting out at anyone daring to diss him, like other MCS ("Other rappers can eat shit, the look like a toilet")dem bad-assed bitches ("greedy with girls, half-naked in a tickle fight, stroking my ego like a handjob.")and Lord knows what else. This kind of drivel simply induces a migraine.
Elsewhere, Beans' lyrical invective can be unintentionally hilarious. "Shock City Maverick" itself has a fine dramatic backdrop, but derails itself with ridiculous boasts like "It's magic when I spit those prose/ suppose I pulled a rabbit out of my ass and called it a rose." Even better/ worse depending on your standpoint is "Death By Sophistication", where Beans basks in Booker Prize winners like: "Your friendly neighbourhood rhyme ripper/ crowds screaming like a dick caught in a zipper"). Ooyah! Oi, Beans, stop it - I'll piss meself!
But for all that, "Shock City Maverick" does have flashes of brilliance. Beans is surprisingly good with atmosphere for one thing, and the album's three instrumentals are all worth the price of admission. "Light Of The Damned" is a cool intro piece featuring farty splurges of synth, obscene phone call mutterings and a slow, typically Warp-ish ambience, while "You're Dead, Let's Disco" finds Beans seemingly hijacking Quasimodo's bells before ushering in an odd, bass-heavy rhythm. Arguably even better is "A Force On Edge", which has strange, skronky electronic doodles married to a droning cello sounding like an aircraft in trouble. It recalls early Cabaret Voltaire actually, which is good, if a tad mystifying.
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And there are a couple of outings where Beans' expletive-fuelled musings do fit the musical backdrop like an envelope around a cheque. Despite the chest-beating MC-ing, "Shards Of Glass" is tempered by strategic female vocal snatches and scratching straight outta the Grandmaster Flash handbook. It's old skool in the best possible way, while - by Beans' exhaustative standards - "City Hawk" is almost a ballad. Slower and accusatory, it revels in lyrical brilliance like "inserted intravenous with rhythm swinging by the neck" and shows just how good Beans can be when he feels like keeping his tadger in his trousers for a few seconds.
Nonetheless, for all its' diversions, "Shock City Maverick" feels like a missed opportunity. With the possible exception of "Down By Law" and "Shards Of Glass", there's nothing to really rival the likes of "Gold Skull" or "Databreaker" from the previous mini-LP and the social commentary Beans can excel in appears to have been ruthlessly jettisoned as our be-shaded hero orders a stretch limo to cruise downtown and get his end away.
God help us if he moves to LA.
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