Seattle Subsonic

Get off your ass and go ‘Mingle’…

June 11th, 2008

The Saturday Knights, consisting of MC’s Barfly and Tilson, and backed by DJ Suspence, have paid dues in the Seattle music scene. Barfly and Tilson put in work with local hip hop crew Old Dominion for many years and gave us a small taste of what was to come with their self-titled EP a few years back. Since then, their EP garnered lots of spins on KEXP, they were signed to Light in the Attic Records, their live shows became must-see events in the 206, and they built a substantial buzz in anticipation of their full length release.

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With that said, let me get this out of the way…the album is impressive.

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Why do I choose the word impressive, instead of the standard good, great, or awesome you ask? I do so because after a few spins I can really hear the hard work and dedication put they into this LP to make something different. And believe me when I tell you…different is good. As in the best Seattle release of 2008 good. Yeah, I said it.

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It’s a great listen for lots of reasons. For one, it is a huge breath of fresh air in a city that is somewhat over saturated with ‘local hip hop’ (whether you know it or not). But more importantly, I can’t remember any group that incorporated so many musical styles and genres into an action-packed 40 minute album. I can’t even bring myself to classify this as a hip hop album, which is a great thing. Off the top of my head I can pinpoint elements of Punk, Greaser, Surfer and Classic Rock, Heavy Metal, Blues, Euro-Pop, Reggae, Rockabilly, Electronic, and of course Hip Hop. To blend all those different sounds (and more cowbell!!) into one album and pull it off so seamlessly is effing impressive. There’s that word again.

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Not to mention that they bring an arsenal of quotable verses, rewind worthy one-liners and all around great lyricism to these tracks that make for knockout combination I haven’t heard since the rock-happy Beastie Boys albums of the 90’s. Except for one thing…TSK’s lyrics have a lot more to them than the B-Boys ever did. A lot of the lines are subtle, but after a few listens you can’t help but flash the ‘O face.’ Barfly calmly drops gems on 45, “Can’t hang homeboy? I’m fuckin drapery” and Dog Park “She party like a rock star, so delirious / I party like a Dog Star, so Sirius.”

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All the songs are great in their own way, but of course I have a few favorites. Ass Kicker’s Haircut, which sounds like the beat was made for the Heavy Metal Soundtrack (Which I have been bumping a lot lately…thanks South Park), name drops famous ass kickers through the years and kills the theme perfectly… Dog Park is the closest to ‘pop’ they get, but the song is so damn catchy and the sing-songy chorus with endless dog references is classic. “So off the chain” indeed… Motorin’ makes you wish you were racing Greased Lightning with the radio on blast. It has the best beat on the album and Tilson’s tongue-twisting verse is truly something to behold…I Go is the shortest song on the album but packs the most punch (more cowbell!!) and begs to be rewound the first few times you hear it…I could go on and on for every track, but I’ll spare you. Buy the album. In Stores June 24th.

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TSK will be having their cd release party Friday, June 27th at Nectar with the Budos Band.

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They will also be opening up for the RZA at the Showbox on June 24th.

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