*** Cypress Hill
SKULL & BONES
(Columbia)
Cypress Hill embraced
rock early in their career, collaborating with Sonic Youth on the pioneering
Judgment Night soundtrack and twice going on tour with Lollapalooza.
They've taken that affection one step further on their fifth album, a two-disc
set that includes a full-length hip-hop disc (Skull) and an EP's worth
of hard rock (Bones). Sen Dog takes the lead on the rock disc, talking
more trash than weed while the guys from his hardcore side project, SX-10,
provide all sorts of tuneless crunch. B-Real takes back the reins on the biz
bio-pic "(Rock) Superstar," a typically brooding DJ Muggs production that also
appears on the hip-hop disc -- minus the live band -- as "(Rap) Superstar." The
rock tracks are as forceful as the group's early stuff was blunted, but don't
think Cypress have given hip-hop the short shrift on Skull & Bones.
They sound delightfully rambunctious on the Skull disc, starting turf
wars on "Cuban Necktie" and offering a hilarious discourse on "weed etiquette"
on "Can I Get a Hit." Cypress long ago developed a formula as reliable as
AC/DC's. On Skull & Bones, they prove it doesn't hurt to have a
little sense of adventure, either.
-- Sean Richardson
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