By Yea Big + Kid Static, 2009

Yeah Big and Kid Static have yet to catch any of the buzz awarded to local acts like Cool Kids or Kid Sister, but it’s not for lack of staying busy. The duo continues to appear on almost any bill, in front of any crowd, in any town, and if you haven't seen their names on a local listings, you might know them from their collaborations with the men of the Mae Shi, remixing their "Run to Your Grave" for the HLLYEA EP. Though their kindred spirits are a little left of traditional notions of hip-hop, Kid Static still lays nimble, easygoing rhymes over the dense and busy production of Yea Big, who also plays the gawky, sweatband-and-gym-short adorned hypeman for Static on stage.

Whether you're a fan of glitch-inspired sci-fi rap production or not, Yea Big's work here is a potent argument for continuing to work the niche: it's always chintzy and threatening, robotic and organic, teeth-gritting and head-bobbing all at once. The tracks on The Future's Looking Grim were sent back and forth between the two principals, Postal Service-style, but you wouldn't know it from hearing it. The chemistry is still enough that Kid Static knows when to lead the track and when to let it pop, squelch, and thump on its own.

There's a social message that occasionally creeps in from the sidelines (they carry "two barrels of beats" and are "super-soakin with guns, not with skeetin" in "Middle America"), and yet Kid Static is becoming a strong enough MC that his flow alone is as compelling as the content. It's evident on the frenetic Nintendo beat of "Stomp the Pedal" that hides more thump and open space in its second return, while Kid Static's double-time flow and breathless inflection show his growth as a rapper. The same goes for when he slows down: "The Nameless" has him taking name-dropping to the most absurd heights possible while rhyming "alphabet" with "Cox-Arquette." It's a concept that might read as corny, but is exactly the kind of thing that can transform folded arms into smiles in an unfamiliar crowd.

Yea Big, meanwhile, is all over the place-- jumping into juke in the outro of the opening track, providing giddy post-Neptunes bounce underneath the chip-tastic "Mega Man" valentine "Bots", receding into harsh static in the closing moments of the darker "Dollar Bill Hat", and combining jazzy hi-hat tapping with distorted bass hits in "Rock Bottom Rock". The fact that Kid Static can even keep up, let alone find a way in to these tracks, is saying something. Sonically, the album veers between a more relaxed and confident reiteration of the busy-but-laid-back rap of their first record and tracks that build an icy tension in their glitchier moments.

Goosebumps are raised as bicycle-spoke percussion floats through an otherwise silent moment before the refrain of "Down to the River", and paranoia lurks over the shoulder of the nightmare-inspired "Long Night". Even "Middle America", which could easily be a theme song for the group, sounds a little tense and beleaguered.

Similar to 0 things you like: