いつも It’s More by Teriyaki Boyz, easily my favourite song from their new album Serious Japanese.

Which isn’t saying much.

In 2008 I discovered their previous record Beef or Chicken, which was a real gem. It was fun, featuring an all-star cast of producers such as Daft Punk, DJ Shadow and Dan the Automator. Cameos by Adrock in the intro and outro gave the album a 1990s Beastie Boys vibe. I’ve posted a couple of their songs before, and I can’t recommend that album enough.

By the time I found out about them, the Boyz seemed to be better known for a song they contributed to one of those horrible Fast and Furious car movies. The song (Tokyo Drift) was produced by The Neptunes, who I’ve never been a fan of¹. It was disappointing, but since that seemed to be a once-off I kept the faith and an eye out for anything else the Teriyaki Boyz did.

Early this year I saw there was a new record called Serious Japanese. As with Beef or Chicken, the Teriyaki Boyz teamed up with a number of producers, but this time I had little idea who many of them were. There was The Neptunes of course, and Adrock was still involved so I went looking for the album with high hopes.

How wrong I was. It’s full of that contemporary minimalist electro hip hop that leaves me feeling really cold, the rapping seems bland, and there doesn’t seem to be a decent hook within a hundred miles (tip — a bratty voice “singing” isn’t a chorus, Neptunes).

Overall, seriously disappointing.

¹ Other than in that Drop It Like It’s Hot song, but I think that’s because I like Snoop Dogg in an almost “Weird Al” Yankovic sense.