Reviews For Eye Of The Storm Records!!!

 THE WACKOS

Ok, so you get a cd to review entitled Fresh out the Nutfarm by people calling themselves The Wackos, and you immediately think Weird Al Jankovich and just about find the resolve to avoid hangin yourself. However, from the depths of Ontario, Canada, come a duo making Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hannibal Lecter, Jason & Michael Myers look like a local church fund raising committee. And the target for their aggression, the bling bling gun totin gangsta pimp supastar hiphop...also know as mainstream.

Within this 7 track cd, these guys who are on the outside of the outside lookin in, say everythin so many were feelin but were either too afraid to say it, or didnt know how to. Everything, and I mean everything gets sliced up by their rhymes like scythin fields of corn. American Idol, all hiphop as described above, sellout rappers who dissin sellout rappers, overfawning to overrated artists, music awards, the beatmakers makin the successful MC, over-commercialised hiphop & media....it's the A-Z of what you'd recognize, and it's HILARIOUS!!!!

The reason it works is they have no illusions about themselves, and have the honesty to accept that they may not be superstars in waiting, but have kind of put themselves in the position of many who look at much of the above and ask "Is it just me, or......?" You fill in the blanks. It is also deliberately tongue in cheek-it's supposed to be amusing. You dont feel they constantly lose sleep over the state of hiphop, or at least to the point they assume an intense bitterness eating away at them. They just say it as they see it and dont feel any necessity to mind their Ps & Qs about anything or anyone, no matter how sacred the cow!

Theyve adopted serial killer personas coming after it all, to take care of all of this in what theyd deem an "appropriate manner" There's a vibe like KIDS IN THE HALL/JACKASS. Their approach is direct, like they say in their opening track "we just say what we say and we dont give a fuck" in their serial killas guises "murder after murder and we never seem to get caught".

Put it this way. If there was a meeting with the Head of the biggest sponsor of bling/corporate whore hiphop, like MTV, some people would sit down and try to put a very intelligent & worthy case to him as to why this image of hiphop is doing more harm than good, and that there are social repercussions and that a broadcaster should try to accept responsibility and represent balance via proactive, intelligent hiphop, to which the Head replies quoting viewing figures, advertising revenue, employment figures and back & forth, back & forth.......These guys would probably sit down, ask why the music they play is fuckin shit, wait for the Head's reply, then stand up, nod to each other, pull out the chainsaw and...............

They revel in their, so far, unpopularity, like what they got to lose anyway, so fuck it. One of the funniest things, and I dont know if this was deliberate, was having heard this cd, I read their accompanying introduction sheet which included "....with its controversial lyrics, beats and the whole image, we think it has the potential of doing very well..." Swear to God, had to be picked up off the floor reading that, especially imagining the over-stylised media or public checkin it. Fellas, youve just destroyed everything they stand for. I'd pay a LOT of money to see their faces listenin this to the first time-jaw droppingly stunned!

The truth is that this has the potential to be a cult classic. "Hey Phil I cured my insomnia/How did you do that?/I just watched 8 Mile" opens Message in a Bottle. Now, Eminem, like other high profile rappers, gonna get haters, but often for dubious reasons such as jealousy or whateva. This track's different, it highlights the great irony in the way Em goes on about peeps like the Backstreet Boys in relation to the persona/fanbase he himself now enjoys. But as I say, it's funny not because it sounds bitter, but because, as with all the tracks, it's very perceptive, just like all the best humour. The thug freestyle parody Chainsaw Party Bashers is an absolute side splitter. I dont want to get too into the motivations, meanings, relevance, importance of this cd. It is what it is, a great laugh. Depending on which side of the fence youre on, youre either gonna love it or hate it, though I think itd even raise a reluctant wry grin with Clear Channel bosses.

Brandon "Tha Raven"