Review Summary: Insanely fun
Sometimes, we all need an album that just fucking
goes. For those unacquainted, may I introduce to you Jean Dawson, and his boisterously entertaining third album,
CHAOS NOW*? Boasting highly energetic rap/hip-hop, acoustically-driven indie-rock, grunge with stadium-sized riffs, and melodic hooks that will invade your mind for days,
CHAOS NOW* seemingly has it all. Despite sounding as though it could be too eclectic for its own good, Dawson seamlessly integrates all of these styles into something dynamic and insanely fun. It's a precedent established from the album's very onset, when Jean quips, "fuck y'all lookin' at?" on the thirteen second intro track before launching into the electric guitars of 'THREE HEADS*" and the explosive refrain of 'GLORY*'. From there,
CHAOS NOW* persistently finds new ways to keep its foot on the creative gas pedal; 'KIDS EAT PILLS*' features some of Jean's most aggressive rapping alongside some of the album's most lush acoustics before launching into an all-out frenzy, 'BAD FRUIT*' is driven by frenetic strings, handclaps, and Earl Sweatshirt, '0-HEROES*' blasts out an insanely catchy chorus only rivaled by 'GLORY*', 'SCREWFACE*' builds to a bluesy guitar solo/breakdown, 'HUH*' feels like it's aiming to redefine "guitar album" in a hip-hop context, 'SICK OF IT*' is the ultimate jacked up hype song, and 'PIRATE RADIO*' legitimately sounds like Bon Iver. I grew up listening to some interesting rap-rock experiments (Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Chronic Future all come to mind immediately), but I've never derived this much sheer euphoric enjoyment out of this style of music before. It's almost like hip-hop's answer to Andrew W.K.'s
I Get Wet. Press play and let
CHAOS NOW* take you on Jean Dawson's wild ride.
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