By Adam Wujtewicz
I always wondered why there weren’t more hip-hop artists that embraced beats with more of a techno/electronica sound. I may have been looking in the wrong place all this time but Erik Lamb is doing it and he’s making it sound like a viable option.
Shoot Everything is as professional sounding an album as you’ll hear. All the sounds are crisp, the vocals are all duplicated in the right places and the beats all bounce at the right tempo. None of this makes Shoot Everything sound cookie cutter… it means it’s easy on the ears, it means that there is more than likely going to be some fist pumping going on at his shows. Actually I think the thing that takes the longest to get used to is Erik’s voice. It’s got an Aesop Rock sort of nasal quality that gives it character. I personally love Aesop Rock and think his voice is his best attribute and similarly with Erik Lamb. He’s got an incredibly laid back sound to his voice no matter how fast his rapping or what he’s rapping about. It’s a sort of quiet confidence that is incredibly refreshing when compared to the soulless mainstream hip-hop chest-beating and materialism.
Shoot Everything is equal parts indie rap intelligence and mass appeal madness. This may be one of the only records that fist pumping goons, uber stoned cheeba monkeys and everyone in between can agree on the merits of.