Hefty Fine

by

Bloodhound Gang

Edit

If you read Don Delillo watch Jackass and think this world is a big Ship of Fools, then BG is for you. This album rocks as BG usually does. Jimmy Pop didn't get over 1300(informed by the BG DVD) on his SATs(when that was a hard thing to do) for nothing; the man is a genius. He is the James Joyce of the Postmodern Suburban Existential Rock/Rap/Pop genre. In a topsy turvy world BG seem like they're all about doo-doo and sex...which they are; but their substance runs deeper so that repeated listenings reveal recursive layers of meaning about The Human Condition. It's like Shakespeare with beats, guitar, and vomiting. If you ever get a chance to see them play I recommend you go. So much more entertaining than the typical manufactured soulless crud that passes(italics) for entertainment nowadays.

BHG can't decide if they want to grow up and be real, no-sh*t rap-rockers, stars, and be serious artistes n' all, or if they want to just keep being the self-proclaimed slacker knuckleheads that everyone loves, sitting back and making fun of everything they encounter. This CD is the result of that conflict, and it's clear here that it's not yet been resolved.

I was looking forward to this release, and I've been let down. I was looking forward to more of that gonzo teen-testosterone punk-rap, appropriately vulgar and stupid, but with that hard edge of observation and cynicism braided in some really great samples and beats that made the last two releases so good. But this is not to be. This is all original material, no sampling and riffing, all more or less straightforward rap. It appears that BHG is moving forward, or at least attempting to.

There are none of the slams on Falco and pop culture, none of the Sanford and Son theme samples, none of the truly dumbass and fantastically enjoyable musical mix that made "Hooray For Boobies" and "Use Your Fingers" so much fun to listen to, both for the music and the lyrics. But all growed up, no, that's not the right wording either. Not with a tune like "Farting With a Walkman On" which I can only characterize as just plain stupid.

Musically, "Uhn-Tiss" is interesting, reminiscent of "The Bad Touch." I've already found this to be a good one to slip into a mix playlist or CD for a buddy, and it's weeks before they actually listen to the words and figure out what's going on. I very much enjoy the overall concept of "Ralph Wiggum," although the music for the tune doesn't support its communication too well. The "Balls Out" chords and beat sound an awful lot like "Yummy Down On This," but the latter has still got the upper hand on this pairing, most definitely.

The opening is straightforward enough, a rude rap goof with the Fresh Prince, and then it shifts right into the angry, uber-rapper glop of "Balls Out," about sex and penis size and all that garbage. Okay, who hasn't heard this junk before, and the, ahem, hardness of the rap might just indicate that BHG is trying to take their game a little higher. Then comes the sorry and out of place reference to the pungency of a "jalapeno popper fart." Sorry, guys, but you can't have it both ways, hard and serious, and then hopping on back to the 9th grade locker room goofs that got you to where you're at. Pick one and stay with it.

I also enjoy the lyrics to "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo." It's not quite the raw misogyny of past BHG albums, but the various euphemisms used are fantastic.

The best writing on the album comes in "Pennsylvania," an excellent-even if the music is massively overpowered by the lyrics-exploration of the screaming stupidity and vapidity of America. I especially enjoy, "...We are Munsoned (a great sneak ref to "Kingpin)...We are flashing twelve o'clock..."

The two little, ah, interludes at tracks 6 and 9 I guess are supposed to be comical, but neither work. "Diarrhea Runs In The Family" at track 6 isn't funny or creative, just a raw, hollow scatological recording with no humorous content whatsoever. "Overheard in a Wawa Parking Lot" at track 9 is just some more of the blatantly racist crap we had in the previous two BHG releases. If BHG is attempting to grow up, they've still got a long way to go.

Bottom line: if you loved the past two BHG releases and want more of the same, this won't scratch that itch. If you're so into BHG that you'll forgive their misguided attempt at art or mainstream or adult or whatever it is they are attempting here, then this CD is for you.