When
Rage Against the Machine's
Tom Morello and
the Coup's
Boots Riley started making plans to put together a group, even rap-rock haters had to stand up and take notice. However, anyone expecting a revolutionary record was probably surprised by the outcome.
Morello and
Riley are both well-established as politically charged left-wing activists, but most of
Street Sweeper Social Club's militant content is overshadowed by rallying party rhymes. The bulk of the record feels like it was made to be performed at live festivals, presumably for a drunken audience to hold up their lighters and shout along to the choruses: "Let's hit 'em with the Mega blast!," "Shock! Shock! We gon shock you again!," and "(Yee!) Alright muthafuckas! (Coo coo!) We gonna fight, muthafuckas!" The combination of funk-metal and rap sounds very '90s, so
Ice-T's
Body Count, or even the
Judgment Night soundtrack, might come to mind. More than anything though,
Street Sweeper sounds like
Rage Against the Machine Part 2 with a more laid-back vocalist.
Boots is a better rapper than he shows, and while he keeps pace, his vocals just don't seem as suited for anthemic stomps as the screams of
Zack de la Rocha did. If you can try to forget
Rage, it's not all bad. The heavy chugging rhythms laid by
Galactic drummer
Stanton Moore and
Morello (who plays bass as well as guitar) are powerful, and when things don't sound forced, the rhymes are fit for fist-pumping. If
Morello and
Riley hadn't been involved in such great projects before, this would be acceptable, but in hindsight, it doesn't really live up to their past accomplishments.