Beastie Boys

It's been four years since Beastie Boys released their last album, the instrumental The Mix-Up, and seven years since their last proper vocal album, the relatively serious To The 5 Boroughs, recorded as a reaction to 9/11. It's been a while, but their recently released 30-minute, star-studded mini-movie/video for "Fight For Your Right Revisited" proves Adrock, Mike D and MCA still have it, and the selection of music appearing throughout the mini-movie only builds greater anticipation. The confusingly titled Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 compiles all the songs in the same order they were supposed to appear on the unreleased Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, and it's not a let down. The Beastie Boys return to their roots for an album of fun, pop culture referencing, back-and-forth raps and self-produced, progressive beats mixing live instrumentation and sampling. The combination of hip-hop, rock, electronica and dub with their smartass raps is something the Beastie Boys have been flirting with since Hello Nasty, if not longer, but Hot Sauce Committee is still hella fresh and full of surprises. While the vocals are often distorted, the beats are mostly futuristic, with hard, aggressive tracks like first single "Make Some Noise" (as heard in their mini-movie), "Too Many Rappers (New Reactionaries)," with Nas, and the rock-ready "Lee Majors Come Again," all guitar-heavy, neck-snapping songs for the b-boy cyphers, sharing space with chill songs such as sunny reggae tune "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win," featuring sizzling vocals from Santiago, the minimal "Nonstop Disco Powerpack" and smooth grooving instrumental "Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament." Only time will tell if Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 will become yet another Beastie Boys classic, but it is definitely the Beastie's best since Ill Communication and will likely revitalize the relevancy of this group, now in their fourth decade of making music. Truly, this is how you make a comeback.