MC Lars – The Laptop EP

I normally don’t like rap, every once in a while I’ll find a rap song that I like, but normally I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of bands like The Beastie Boys or Run DMC, in fact, I can barely stand hearing them. So when I heard the name “MC Lars” I as very skeptical. Imagine my surprise when I turned the CD on to find out that I actually really like The Laptop EP.

The Laptop EP is a selection of songs melding punk and rap together courtesy of a laptop and turntable. Personally, it reminds me a lot of Buck 65, but with a bit more energy to it. The melodies on certain songs are pushed even further courtesy of Piebald and Brand New, who lend samples of American Hearts and Okay, I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t on the first and last tracks of the EP. These push their sound a bit further, but isn’t always necessarily. Take Straight Outta Stockholm which features one of the catchiest melodies in the entire EP. And like a lot of rap bands, the melodies aren’t the most important part of the song. The standout part of almost every song is the lyrics. They are catchy, slightly cocky, sarcastic, and incredibly funny. Take Hurricane Fresh for example, “Chuck D told me I had to be me so I bought the Public Enemy CD. I ripped one track in .mp3 ’till Lars Ulrich came after me” or “You gave us the Beatles, and you gave us The Who. We gave you Kriss Kross and Vanilla Ice too. You gave us “Chicken Run” and the Teletubies, We gave you McDonald’s and got you chubby” from UK Visa Versa. Catchy, up to date, funny, and sarcastic, I love it. I also love Signing Emo, the story of a A&R scout who signs a emo band called Hearts That Hate and pushes them into emo dies then just drops them. Its pocking fun at the scene today, and how major labels will pick up anything as long as it will sell CDs right then.

I was surprised to see that I really enjoy listening to MC Lars‘ The Laptop EP, some friends of mine are still undecided on weather they like it or not. One thing’s for sure, is that the EP does give you a little break from what you normally hear.