Over the years, Independent hip hop has done a great deal of re-imagination. The repertoire of kids in a skate park can be just as much NWA as Operation Ivy or Rancid; Many of the cats today crafting beats and rhymes are part in parcel of the progress of our artform.
Seattle's Grieves is a bit of a newcomer but is doing something far different than his contemporaries. He sings a lot of his hooks, and some of the tracks are all melodic vocal. This is a stark contrast to most of the heavy hitters that have encompassed the backpack era.
Opener "lightspeed" doesn't so much as charge out the gates as it lights the candle, as Grieves cautiously steps his way through his sometimes joyous, sometimes trite, suburban upbringing, and comes to with an addiction and failed relationship. Subject matter stays indelibly "emo"; the delivery is tantamount with Rhymesayers' labelmate, Slug, tightly declaring "FUCK YOU LUCY" within the confines of his earliest work. Grieves isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before here, but thanks to his approach and style, he makes it work. A few tracks later, "On the Rocks" treads heavily to new melodic ground, borrowing from influences that you might not expect from anyone on the RS roster.
The album itself does run a little long, the production begins to take chances on tracks like "Bloody Poetry" which blends infectious horns with a striking piano melody. "Prize Fighter" shows us a hardcore, everyman persona. Of the 16 songs on Together, 2 or 3 probably could've been cut. Producer Budo's bag of tricks is exciting at first, but does fall a little flat towards the end. His tracks are solid, but from a formulaic standpoint, they don't really change or evolve much. Even so, Together is still a solid release, if only because of the chances it takes and the ground it dares to cover.
-Marty.
Video: "On the Rocks":
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