With this debut record from The Burbs, there is potential to be found going forward with their mellow production... That is sometimes held back with inconsistent mixing and sometimes weak performances.
The Burbs, a rap duo that hails from Sacramento has put out their debut record last year that dabbles in political topicality through the soundscapes of relaxed and tempered sample-heavy production that might feel like a familiar sound for decades, but The Burbs certainly change things up a bit to make that soulful aesthetic feels like it belongs to their group. Even with skepticism that may come from other critics and music enthusiasts that will have issues with what nitpicky amateur-ish quality this record may showcase on the sidelines, the group will definitely be a surprising bunch as they have delivered something that can rival the professionals in the scene right now.
To start, there is a cohesive flow and aesthetic that brings a callback to the sample-heavy hip-hop of the 90s or the underground experimental niches in the 2010s. Fluttering r&b and soul samples add an earthy and accessible blanket that feels welcoming for those who are still new to this brand of style in hip-hop circles, only for The Burbs to add some murky twists on these beats as they pitch the tone of their vocals or the samples to shake up some wonky elements on an otherwise 23-minute record. And it helps that it complements the balanced splashes of topics around the record, especially towards the political topics and more of the chill and relaxed topics that make this record feel approachable, but still aware of the struggles that will cling in their lives. This creates for some songs that executes the tones in nice variations, the sporadic piano loops that adds a sharp spark on the rapping and mellow singing on ‘thru the city’, the swinging bounce of the horn samples and trap beats on ‘5:41’, the shuffling groove of ‘house party’, as well as the haunting sample that gets chopped up in tight sections on ‘palmdale 1997’.
The contentious element that might need to improve in the future may have to be the performances and the mixing aspect of the vocals. Matthew Johnson and Brandon Mack’s instinct to put up varied flows and mellow delivery is an aspect of their performance that’s definitely appreciative and fitting for this record, but there needs a bit of work on making their charisma feel and sound more natural and they’re definitely carrying their influences from other rappers which can make their rapping feel a bit derivative. While the vocal mixing does some fine job towards not making their vocals peak on the mix, it is clear that they are still struggling with how they will properly tune their vocals as there are instances where it can feel buried and swamped out from the instrumentation or that some vocal pickups are not in the same frequency as other vocal pickups. This is going to be more of a personal nitpick than such, but the wonky abrasions on some of the songs don’t exactly work and just come off as a bit distracting to boot, like the high pitched vocal dubs on ‘rhapsody’ that sours the softer vibe of that song, the warbling vocal effect on ‘TRANSPARENCY’ that tries to add some menacing contrast but feels quite hollow, and the mangled high pitched sample of ‘hello’ that distracts from Matthew and Brandon’s presence in the song.
But beyond that, it’s a pretty solid debut effort from these two, and their statements and blueprints that they can make their own were mostly showcased in effective amounts especially with their choice of production tones, varied flows, and solid melodic lines all throughout. It’s just that the performances, mixing mishaps, and production missteps make their warmth feel a bit cooler and a bit derivative in comparison with this kind of style in hip-hop circles, especially in the underground scene. There are a lot of pathways for them to drive through, but it’s up to them to decide where they’ll head next.
Favorite Tracks: palmdale 1997, house party 3, 5:41, thru the city
Least Favorite Track: TRANSPARENCY