It was a
beautiful day for a walk home, which is exactly what I did. If my walk had a
bit of a strut to it well, that’s just this next album working its magic.
Disc 1387 is…. Pick
a Bigger Weapon
Artist:
The Coup
Year of Release: 2006
What’s up with the
Cover? Boots Riley and Pam the
Funkstress have apparently had a bad day at the office and have decided to hit
back a little. Unfortunately for that computer monitor, Pam hits back with a
bat.
How I Came To Know
It: I’ve
been digging through their discography for the last eight or nine months. I was
lucky enough to find four of their albums at my local record store and “Pick a
Bigger Weapon” was one of those.
How It Stacks Up: I currently have four
albums by The Coup. Of those, “Pick a Bigger Weapon” comes in at #2. The two I’m
missing will likely displace it, but they aren’t here, and this record is.
Ratings: 4 stars
“Pick a Bigger Weapon” feels like someone crossed the intricate rhymes of
Eminem with the old school funk of the Ohio Players. If you think that sounds like
a good combination, you’d be right. This being the Coup’s penultimate release,
it tends toward their movement away from the rap side of the combination toward
the traditional R&B, but there is still more than enough of both to please,
regardless of your preference.
The best songs feature both aspects of their music, mixing some of the
funkiest grooves you’ll ever hear in with top-grade emcee work. Front-man Boots
Riley has a killer flow to his rap, mixing impeccable timing, interconnected
rhymes, politics and more than a little humour as well. As with ever Coup
album, Boots has a lot of political points to make, but the humour is the sugar
coating that helps it all go down easier.
While Boots and Pam the Funkstress (turntables) are the only full-time
members of the band, there is host of talented musicians playing on the record.
They throw in the usual (guitar, bass, drums) along with strings, horns,
synthesizers, harmonica or whatever the hell else the song needs to sound
funky. James Brown once said, “it’s got to be funky” and the Coup were clearly
listening. All this live playing gives the record a wonderful organic feel.
The record is front-end loaded, with the majority of its greatness in the
first half – Side One for you vinyl freaks. This means it tends to tail off on
repeat listens, as I found myself antsy to skip back to the beginning before it
was over. It doesn’t help that the record is 17 songs and 65 minutes long. The final
three minutes of the album is aimless wandering guitar and hand claps, which
also didn’t help.
However, I can forgive all of these sins given how awesome Side One is.
It starts with “Bullets and Love”, a crazy mix of synthesizer, rock
guitar, hand claps (of the non-aimless variety) and Boots’ microphone mastery spitting
revolutionary zeal for a minute and a half. It ends so quickly that you could be
left hanging, if it weren’t for the immediate launch of the album’s best track,
“We Are the Ones” full of groove and social commentary (the Coup’s
favourite combo), guaranteed to make you strut in a funk-inspired dance fest.
The Coup are social activists as much as they are musicians, with many a political
message. They mix their partying with a call to arms, or as they summarize so
succinctly on “Laugh/Love/Fuck”:
“I’m here to laugh, love, fuck and drink liquor
And help the damned revolution come quicker.”
I’ll leave the politics to them (this is a music blog), but however you
feel about it, they deliver some furious rhymes on song after song, intricate rhymes
chaining from line to line, all delivered over musicians who absolutely occupy
the pocket.
The Coup bring humour to their message as well, with “Ass Breath
Killers” detailing the invention of pills that counteract the disease of
kissing too much ass. This song is also the best of Pam the Funkstress’ work on
the turntables.
I’m not much for revolution, but you don’t have to want to foment
revolution to enjoy great R&B and rap music, and “Pick a Bigger Weapon”
features plenty of both. The Coup is one of my happiest discoveries of 2019,
and this record is a worthy entry in their catalogue.
Best tracks: Bullets
and Love (introduction), We Are the Ones, Laugh/Love/Fuck, My Favourite Mutiny,
Head (Of State), Sho Yo Ass, Ass Breath Killers, Captain Sterling’s Little
Problem
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