Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, and Korn are all bands that have at one time or another been referred to as rock/rap bands. However, none of these bands are actually true rock/rap, and all belong in the genre of nu-metal. So that begs the question, has there ever really been a rock/rap band ever? Well, the question has finally been answered, which is where El Pus (loosely meaning The Sh**!) comes in. They are an all black rock band that prefer to be called a rap and roll group. They formed in the early 1990’s, but only released their debut LP in 2005, titled
Hoodlum Rock, Vol. 1. The surprising fact about El Pus is that their music isn’t bland as most so-called rap/rock groups are.
The instrumentation on the album is simple, but mainly because vocalist/rapper Cufi, and Cosmo are the main attraction of the band. Their voices are good, and mixes the use of both rap, and singing well. The lyrics are the sort of thing you would expect from rap artists. The themes of women, chasing your dreams, and remembering the days in the hood are all brought up, usually more than once. Many songs are reminiscent of bands such as Sublime, and The Black Eyed Peas.
Girl sounds like something that The Black Eyed Peas would write. The vocal style of Cosmo, and Cufi is done the exact way many of The Black Eyed Peas songs are. It’s surprisingly an enjoyable song; the percussion is done very well on the song, and is a standout for it. The song
Days of the Bks (I Remember) is a strange song. It is about reminiscing about the old days in the hood, and the music is something that you could have expected from Sublime, acoustic guitar, and all. The opening lyrics are cliché, but once the song gets going it won’t bother anyone. It could do very well as a single, but could take a little while to grow on some people. The only actual rap song is in the hidden track on the album, and starts out with a distorted drum track beat.
Suburb Thuggin’ is easily the most “rock oriented” track on the whole album, and the standout as well. The lyrics are easily the most entertaining on the song, talking about certain people who think they are gangster, but don’t even have a clue what their doing.
" C'mon, I said la la la la la you're not a tough guy. You know why? 'Cause you're just thuggin in tha suburbs, and you betta watch yourself. 'Cause when you're thuggin in tha suburbs you might run into real gangstas. You just thuggin in tha suburbs and you betta watch youself. 'Cause when you're thuggin in the suburbs you might run into real gangstas. Lalalalala you're not a tough guy La la la la la you're not a tough guy. Hey man, you gonna have ta ease up on that, Limpin' Bizkit, happy ass, echoe scratchin" The guitar riffing is enjoyable, and besides the vocal job; it is the most memorable thing about the song.
The biggest problem on the album is that only four songs reach above the three-minute mark. Every other song is around two minutes long, making the album only thirty-four minutes long even though there are eleven actual tracks on the album. Despite the fact that many songs are different from each other, many will get the feeling that they have heard all of this before. Despite that, this album is worth trying out if you want to hear something slightly original. If you’re interested, these three songs are the ones you want to try out first before deciding on buying the whole album.
Suburb Thuggin’,
Nite Train, and
Days of the Bks (I Remember).
