Beastie Boys :: Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two

Part One doesn’t exist. Not really. Not yet, that is. Back in 2009 there was cover art, a tour schedule and a release date for that record, then Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch got the cancer and everything non-health-related went on the shelf, as it should have. Oddly, rather than pushing Part One back after MCA returned to health, the trio kept loyal to Part Two’s 2011 release date, skipping past the first part of the series indefinitely. What we get is a 16-track cycle that breaks down into 13 full-blown tracks and three interludes, a set that makes for the first worthwhile Beasties record since 1998′s Hello Nasty (two additional records were released in between, neither are really worth your time). Said to be the extras from Part One, you’d think the record might have something off an odds and ends feel. Not the case.

The sound here is instantly less polished than Nasty, though not quite as organic sounding on a whole as the band’s pre-Nasty material. (Those records were dusty loops and simple live playing put together mostly on 8-tracks and MPCs, held together by back-and-forth vocals and, often, the cuts of Mix Master Mike.) There are nods to past records, such as the robot voice on “OK” and pseudo-electronic vibes that pop up here and there. Mostly, this is a boom-bap minded hip-hop record made by three 40-something emcee/producer/musicians who now know their way around a studio as well, or better than, as any hip-hop artist – ever. That said, the inventive nature of Nasty, Paul’s Boutique, Licensed to Ill and Check Your Head is seemingly gone forever, the Boys more focused on making very listenable and fluid records that appeal to their solid-as-a-rock fanbase – which is mostly comprised of skaters, underground hip-hop fans and fans of skate and boom-bap culture. The rhymes, as always, get passed around like a hot potato amongst the members while the beats are dusty and often grimy, ornamented with funk loops, scratches, break beats, original bass lines and electronic flourishes. If you know the classic Beasties catalog, you already know the sound of Part Two. A good thing.

The vibe feels somewhat cinematic, playing through almost like a musical accompaniment to a skate video. Songs like “Long Burn the Fire,” “Say It,” “Too Many Rappers,” “Crazy Ass Shit” and “Here’s a Little Something For Ya” will be instant classics amongst fans, while “Make Some Noise,” “Ok” and “Don’t Play No Game I Can’t Win” (featuring Santigold) could all, with powerful videos and some viral marketing, become summer hits. Some of the lesser tracks, like “Funky Donkey” and “Tadlock’s Glasses,” have a gritty appeal that will grow with time, adding to the cinematic vibe of the record with their strange minimalism and atmospheric production. The only tracks that seem lacking (aside from the borderline sellout Santigold track) are “Here’s a Little Something” and instrumental “Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament,” and even those works are better than everything on the spotty To the 5 Boroughs, a record many thought was the end of the Beasties.

Mostly, to me, this album works as something of a time capsule, taking me back to high school and the summer of 1994, when Spike Jonze’s video for “Sabatoge” was huge and the first half of Ill Communtcation was on constant replay for anyone interested in hip-hop, punk or skate culture. The grouping of that record, along with the band’s back catalog and Larry Clark’s Kids film, had a huge influence on many from that generation, celebrating for afar an authentic urban culture that was, at the time, still something of a far-off mystery to most young Americans. Assuming that Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two makes it to the young ears of today, I suspect it will have a similar effect on the right ears, despite the sterile, technology-obsessed nature of today’s youth. Notorious for their long breaks between records, here’s to hoping that the supposedly already completed Part One comes out soon – maybe even this year. And hey, we have to assume that, since Part Two is mostly leftovers, that the next record will be even better. Until then, we have the solid Part Two, possibly a new hip-hop classic and certainly a fine entry into the historic Beastie Boys oeuvre.

86/100