P.O.S.

I haven't listened to Minneapolis, MN MC P.O.S. since the release of his 2006 sophomore album, Audition, but after hearing new album We Don't Even Live Here, I can't quite figure out why. Maybe the new record is more accessible now that he has traded in the guitar-heavy sound of his previous albums for a dancier, futuristic production style. Whatever it is, I regret not keeping up. As expected from a rapper with his roots in punk (most explicitly revealed in the shout-out chorus of "Piano Hits"), We Don't Even Live Here has a rebellious nature informed by the disenfranchised. "Bumper" opens the album with a punk-influenced drum and bass loop that pulls in hard synth and glitchy effects, with P.O.S. criticizing fake individuals who front like they're hard. Album highlight "Fuck Your Stuff" follows, revealing a disdain for material objects while P.O.S. attempts to start a revolution over a futuristic g-funk beat by Lazerbeak. "Get Down" is a glitchy, minimalist dance jam with a message that's the modern equivalent of Nero playing the violin while Rome burns, with P.O.S. rapping, "Shit is burning to the ground/I don't wanna think about it, I just wanna get down." And the danceable, synth-heavy "We Don't Even Live Here (Weird Friends)" is a call to embrace the peculiar over the status quo. These may be the best of the bunch, but the rest of this 11-song album is far from filler. We Don't Even Live Here offers an opportunity to let your inner anarchist out while tearing up the dance floor. How rare is that?