Rob’s old band were harshly ignored. They had an album on Ozone round the same time as collaborator and abettor Mike Ladd. Whereas Mike got picked up by Big Dada, borrowing bassist ErikMO, and set off on his space-hop opera, Sonic Sum struggled to find a label to put their sophmore effort out, Films eventually getting a JPN-only release. If you find a way of getting it for less than £22 (CD only, sadly), I would love to hear of it. Anyway, I think other band members ended up moving away from NYC, and time was called on the project before anyone had really heard anything beyond The Sanity Annex. So, Def Jux grabbed Rob, which is fitting, as there’s definitely a shared aesthetic beyond Dan Ezra’s artwork. Rob style is pretty unique tho, with lyrics somewhere between Beans and Mr Lif, and a dark, jukie sound. It pays homage with being a homage; a terra-ised Fantastic Damage less intent on letting you know how new it is. Post-shock and awe, the best Definitive Jux release for a long time.
4 out of 5
