Street Sweeper Social Club

While Rage Against the Machine fans continue to await the sound of Zach de la Rocha over fresh hip-hop beats, Street Sweeper Social Club reveal how RATM would have sounded if a competent rapper had fronted the group. RATM guitarist Tom Morello provides the production, guitar and bass on this project, with the Coup rapper Boots Riley on vocals. (Stanton Moore of funk fusionists Galactic hits the skins.) The result is a rock/rap hybrid done right, with veteran musicians providing the chugging, guitar-heavy hard rock and a dash of funk as the backing for Boots's smooth flow and incendiary-laden socio-political raps. While Boots is a natural over the infamous Bay Area funk of his hometown, he also sounds comfortable amongst the heavier riffs and guitar solos, although his flow on "Good Morning, Mrs. Smith" can be a little stilted, something you'd never hear on a Coup record. On the other hand, the Coup wouldn't give you metal screams, high-pitched "woo-has" or harmonized background vocals. Street Sweeper Social Club isn't another Coup album but it will do until a new one arrives.