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(hed) p.e.
The DiY Guys
(Suburban Noize Records)
Remember when the very thought of Rap and Metal artists crossing paths onstage or, heaven forbid, on record seemed, well, blasphemous? Don’t get me wrong; back in the day, I sincerely enjoyed the prototypical (if not outright groundbreaking) efforts of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five almost as much as I enjoyed the works of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and, Judas Priest. I just never thought the two would someday make for such interesting bedfellows. Although the exact origins of the Rap Metal genre remain debatable at best (Aerosmith and Run D.M.C.’s “Walk This Way”?), it’s the artists and groups that followed in their larger-than-life footsteps that seemed to have made the most lasting impact. A prime example of such an act is Huntington Beach, California-based veterans (hed) p.e., who have once again returned to kick our collective asses.
On the stellar The DiY Guys (2008), an expertly assembled thirteen song, two disc (one CD, one DVD) collection of spirited live Rap and ‘G-Punk’-infused Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, each track, beginning with the relentlessly pummeling “Madhouse” (taken from 2007’s curiously overlooked Insomnia), and the symbolism-laden “Not Dead Yet”, immediately commands the rapt and undivided attention of even the most jaded and unimaginative of listeners, myself most definitely included. Refusing to conform to the downtrodden tried and true formulas so often embraced by the crème de la crème of the genre’s elite, the frequently ferocious fivesome stomps, twists and turns through each carefully crafted composition, deftly bridging the more than considerable distance between the group’s major label past and the stripped down realism of the present.
Continuing with the delightfully tongue-in-cheek “Peer Pressure”, and the quasi-mosh-inducing “The Truth”, the woefully undersung combination of vocalist Jahred Shane (a.k.a. Paolo Sergio Gomes), guitarist Jackson “Jaxon” Benge (who joined the group in 2004 as a replacement for the departed Sonny Mayo), bassist Mark “Mawk” Young, DJ Product © 1969 and drummer Anthony “Tiny Bubz” Biuso steamroll ahead like the well-oiled machine they so obviously have become. Effectively solidifying an already well-deserved reputation as a creative force not to be ignored, the group once again offers both new and established partakers alike the opportunity to vicariously partake in their realm of ‘…marijuana abuse, spray paint use and paternity suits…’ without resorting to the shameless, payola-driven tactics so often employed by their would-be contemporaries.
Fortified throughout by a wealth of previously unreleased material (including the gleefully incendiary “War On The Middle Class” and a fifty seven minute Punk ‘Rockumentary’), other standouts, including the indescribably scalding “Niteclub In Bali”, and the equally lethal “Put ‘Em Up”, fail to subtract from the decidedly festive mood within, a much-welcomed characteristic that ultimately makes the rumbling audiovisual train wreck that is the mighty The DiY Guys one of the group’s finest recorded moments to date. Okay, okay…so maybe the Rap Metal and Rap Rock genres (and, as a result, their various inhabitants) haven’t exactly aged gracefully. But whatever you do, don’t let the group’s tragically unjustified ‘One Hit Wonder’ stigma fool you. This, for better or for worse, is most definitely not the (hed) p.e. that was force fed en mass circa 2003.
Is it groundbreaking? Is it revolutionary? Absolutely not. But then again, that’s not really the point, now is it? Although one might effectively argue that the group’s seemingly never-ending array of label and line-up changes (the group’s nine (!) releases have been issued by no less than three freakin’ labels) have irreversibly tarnished the quintet’s once Platinum-fueled reputation, one must, at the very least, sincerely admire the group’s seemingly unique penchant for intertwining equally lethal amounts of Politics, Rap, Reggae and R&B amid an already undeniably adventurous overall tonality. Thus, if you’ve once again found yourself in search of an adrenaline-fueled alternative to the painfully mindless drivel that is so often the ‘…mainstream…’, then this, my friends, might just be the high octane cure for what ails you. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Select Discography
The DiY Guys (CD/DVD) ****
Insomnia (2007) ****
The Best Of (hed) p.e. (2006) **
Back To Base X (2006) ****
Only in Amerika (2005) ***
Blackout (2003) **
Broke (2000) **
(hed) p.e. (1997) **
Church Of Realities (EP) (1995) *
* released independently
** released via Jive Records
*** released via KOCH Records
**** released via Suburban Noize Records