Busdriver

Gifted L.A. rapper Busdriver delivers hype verses and shitty choruses over inconsistently engaging production on RoadKillOvercoat. With elements of rap, pop and psychedelic folk all blending together, Busdriver’s latest was bound to be eclectic. The trouble is that these different styles and sounds are skewed further to form an unintelligible sonic mélange, making it difficult to connect with this uneven record. "Casting Agents and Cowgirls” is a hyperactive pop song propelled by Busdriver’s frenetic flow and stinging lyrics. Entertainment industry critiques like this and "Pompous Posies! Your Party’s No Fun” are sharp, with Busdriver taking aim at worthy targets with his biting humour. "Less Yes’s, More No’s” tweaks jungle beats and the thundering, politically empowering verses are tempered by a weak, though well-meaning, chorus. "Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now)” also features innovative production courtesy of Boom-Bip, and Busdriver impressively spits rhymes at a breakneck pace. Again, however, the song contains an interesting theme expressed within a wack chorus. "Sunshower” is a melodramatic, dance-y indie rock song that soon grows tiresome and "Go Slow,” featuring CocoRosie’s Bianca Cassady, is an interesting, if uninspiring, stab at trip-hop. Undoubtedly talented and ambitious, with a broad scope, Busdriver is simply all over the road here.