Downset
Check Your People
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On their first record for Epitaph, Downset come off like Rage Against the Machine if the teenage Zack de la Rocha had run with gangbangers instead of student activists. The title track lays out the geography of a post-Crips-and- Bloods life: "My enemies is into motherfuckin' close cutthroat zone association," barks lead singer Rey Oropeza. The L.A. quintet also shows a strong, socially aware side -- "Play Big" calls out former President Bush regarding covert CIA operations. But if Downset's agenda is often as admirable as Rage's, the band's thudding, monochromatic rap metal is totally by the book. Only the headbanging "Together" rises above the rest: It's a genuinely triumphant call for gang
Read More unity -- it's kind of like rap metal's version of Sham 69's "If the Kids Are United." "Together, it never meant as much as it does right now," bellows Oropeza. In this one song, Downset do something which Rage have yet to accomplish: They make the political personal. (RS 853) ROB KEMP
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