Customer Reviews

No Time Left on Earth

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album's full of laid back beats and is just plain fun to listen to. A few weak tracks hold it back, but there are some that are just brilliant: in particular pineapple wine has some of the coolest rhymes this side of Kool Keith or Del, and hey stewardess and whispering reef feature incredible vocals from glassjaw / head automatica frontman Daryl Palumbo. In the end, the good definately outshines the bad.

I've been a fan of alternative hip-hop for years and The Rondo Brothers always keeps my interest. their debut album is awesome. the group of artists they chose for this project is diverse, yet it works. My fav track is "Pineapple Wine," rapper Poach Stevens has a bright future ahead.

Maybe too much British mope-rock is making me cynical. But there seems to be something almost calculatedly sunny about the Rondo Brothers' debut, "No Time Left On Earth." Lite hip-hop gets smothered in bright tropical tunes and airy electronic swooshes -- it doesn't actually get to be as fun as it sounds.

"Check your wife at the door, check your child at the door with your wife," a loud voice says, right before an upbeat little ukelele starts to go. It gives way to a trippy, watery little tune called "Aquarium Blues," complete with bluesy vocals and an intensely summery little pop melody.

Unfortunately, it and the rest of the album sound like the Muzak for a Hawaiian resort -- fun and pretty, sometimes quite catchy, and with plenty of rapid percussion, fun samples and the odd hip-hop or alt-rock rhythms. But it always feels sugary and a bit artificial, and lacking in musical substance.

Halfway through, it begins to redeem itself with the eerie "Ghost Story Part 1" and the rolliking rock tune "Hey Stewardess." The second half is certainly a bit more diverse, and it has a somewhat more mature sound. But it's back to the all-too-sunny Hawaiian pop sound, sprinkled with the odd good song full of tropical funk, psychedelic rap and eerie pop tune.

Sunny music is not a bad thing in itself -- look at the Polyphonic Spree and Pizzicato Five. But I can only stand so much ukelele, paired with songs that seem tailor-made for Poach Stevens to sing, "Go poo-poo! Go poo-poo!" and happily launch off a profanely tongue-in-cheek rap. At least it ends on a suitably eerie note with the second part of "Ghost Story."

Perhaps the biggest problem with this is that sunny sparkling seaside music doesn't mesh so well with Hawaiian hip-hop. If the boys had done one or the other, this would probably be stunning. As it is, it feels like an uncomfortable fusion that is too sweet for its emo and hip-hop overtones, but too gritty to be on par with similarly sunny bands.

I confess, I am not fond of ukelele. In fact, in my mind, it rates right down there with the kazoo and cheap plastic harmonicas. I much prefer it when Jim works his magic with a bass guitar, and the Brothers emphasize the wicked samples and turntabling. At those moments, sunny or not, the Brothers manage to balance out the grit and brightness. Those parts are what give me some hope for this band.

The Rondos Brothers definitely gets props for trying something so different, even if it does have ukelele. "No Time Left on Earth" is mostly made of substanceless, sunny pop, but it has moments of sheer musical brilliance that the Brothers will hopefully follow up on.

I'm a fan of a lot of Steel Guitar and Hawaiian classics, and i love the old recordings i've heard. I also love Kid Koala's stab at this type of genre. So, i'm a little biased.

While this cd's good, some of the "Hawaiian" elements feel a little gimmicky, and something about it feels a little too clean. Some tracks are absolutely spot on; others feel like Jack Johnson b-sides (which isn't necessarily bad), and others are annoying at best. Still, gotta give 'em credit, and it IS a debut. So i'm hoping for a little more of the dirt next time around. There is a lot of history to Hawaiian music, and i tihnk they'd be better off letting that show a little more.