P.O.S.

It should come as no surprise that this uneasy fusion of punk and hip-hop comes from Minnesota, the same state that brought the alt-hop of Atmosphere and Slug to the masses. In its defence, it’s not exploitive like a Linkin Park/Jay-Z mash-up, mostly because of the jarring punk influence that comes miles away from the radio — you may not love the buzz-saw guitars of "Half-Cocked Concepts” but you’re not going to make fun of it behind its back. "POS is Ruining My Life” is entirely more cohesive, but it seems like that would be an insult to this project’s intentions. A member of the Minneapolis crew Doomtree, P.O.S. is a competent rapper, running through a pseudo De La Cover on "De La Souls,” but when alongside Slug on "Bush-League Psych-Out Stuff” he comes across as strictly average. Like some of those Rhymesayers and Company Flow songs that you understand the genius of, but don’t actually like, Audition is going to have trouble staying in your permanent play list. Maybe people should just give up on trying to cram rock and rap together.