Da Lench Mob Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
Music's best political propaganda -- which ranges from Merle Haggard on the right to Joan Baez, Public Enemy, Bob Marley, and U2 on the left -- offers more than just rhetoric. It makes its case with coherent, well-reasoned arguments. Whether you agree or disagree with Haggard's stridently conservative "The Fighting Side of Me" or Marley's left-leaning Rastafarian manifesto "Get Up, Stand Up," those songs are political masterpieces. Planet of da Apes, Da Lench Mob's second album, is a fiercely political effort that doesn't contain any masterpieces. Combining a strong Public Enemy influence with West Coast gangsta rap, Ice Cube's L.A. colleagues provide a lot of inflammatory, militant rhetoric, but don't provide any lyrics that you could call brilliant. None of the tunes are in a class with Ice-T's "Colors," Public Enemy's "Night of the Living Baseheads," Boogie Down Productions' "South Bronx," or Grandmaster Flash's "New York, New York"; those sociopolitical rap classics are nothing short of brilliant, whereas Planet of da Apes is merely an exercise in angry rhetoric for the sake of angry rhetoric. Da Lench Mob often mines the same black nationalist waters as Public Enemy and BDP, but without being as coherent or as lucid -- agree or disagree with them, Chuck D and KRS-1 have provided some of the most memorable political rhymes in the history of hip-hop (just as Haggard has provided some of the most memorable Republican propaganda in the history of country music). But despite its shortcomings, Planet of da Apes is an enjoyable, if limited, effort. The beats are often infectious, and, like Rage Against the Machine, Da Lench Mob can pull you in with its grooves and its passion even though its lyrics are too clichéd and rhetorical for their own good. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'Guerillas in tha Mist'
Release Date 1/1/1992
Tracks 13
Label Street Knowledge/Atco
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Looking like a cross between the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas on the album cover, Da Lench Mob fully embrace an urban revolutionary rhetoric consistent with their image. Unrepentantly political music of any sort can be difficult to listen to -- particularly when it is almost blindly angry and coming from an inherently (though understandably) biased point of view, and also when it sidesteps some of the subtleties of the issues it raises. Guerillas in tha Mist, the group's debut album, is guilty of all those things, and yet it is an often brilliant, always invigorating, sometimes infuriating scowl of an album. The album is a relentless onslaught of attitude, but it is not misplaced vehemence or finger-wagging.The final song on the album is titled "Inside tha Head of a Black Man," and that is exactly the psychic and psychological space that Guerillas in tha Mist occupies: confused, chaotic, complex, righteous, angry, and turbulent, but also permeated with a sense of braggadocio and looseness. Just because they have trouble on their mind doesn't mean they can't swing, too, and Ice Cube's production does just that, especially on tunes such as "All on My Nut Sac," "Freedom Got an A.K.," and the title track. He loads the songs with rolling fatback bass and funky keyboard riffs, and fills in every empty space with some sort of noise, generally a horn or siren or whistle. When listening to Guerillas in tha Mist, it is virtually impossible to catch your breath; in fact, it is so powerfully urgent that it feels as if you've just been punched in the gut. But when experiencing something this significant and consequential, you shouldn't want the blow to be pulled just to increase your comfort level. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
