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Posts Tagged ‘Single’

SOT New Single Reviewed

There aren’t any chart topping cameos on the new debut single ‘Hookah Baby’ from Denver, Colo., hip-hop experimentalists Strange Orange Tongue. However, music’s greatest innovators never get noticed right away. ‘Hookah Baby’ is a true grunge hip hop team-up; the single gives a glimpse perhaps into what hip hop mystery will arrive with the full length release, ‘The Lift’, later this year. So what’s all the hub bub about Strange Orange Tongue? No pun intended but it’s a matter of taste; which could be the reason for the band name (Strange Orange Tongue). For those that don’t know the band better known as simply S.O.T., then let me just say their somewhere between the Audio Bullys and Modeselektor. Like most of their music, it’s hard for me to tell whether this track is light or dark, perhaps ingeniously on purpose. Clearly the “Hookah Baby” is not a hookah at all, so what is it?

Hookah Baby is filled with beligerant honesty and underscored with a message about the political climate “Gaza an appeasement needs…” and cheeky allusions to “..a jug of Kool Aid that’s spiked with some booze”. At other times the lyrics are vague enough that you wonder, “well maybe he is talking about a baby hookah or a hookah baby”. Somehow the song seems rather cohesive considering one minute your talking about fountains in SoHo and MySpace followed with a mention of “Apple” being “like poison in the land of parades…”. On the Strange Orange Tongue website, the Hookah Baby ‘Apple’ lyric is with a capital ‘A’. Is it a reference to the hardware manufacturer? Either the band is deft at clever tricks or there’s truly a deeper artistic expression. Either way, it’s only the first song off the debut album so time will tell. Their antics have always kept me interested since their bootlegs were leaked a long time ago, but you’d have to think that any fans they once had would have moved on by now…right?

In regards to sound, the song revisits an old school Cypress Hill feel with the squiggly guitar background and marching tempo. The Hookah Baby dry drum sound makes the lyrics echo in a more perverted way and the odd spoken range lends to the droll impression left by vocalist Nic Rio. You feel that he may be doing more explaining to you or reminiscing than rapping. Some may wonder if Strange Orange Tongue has gone soft in favor of more mainstream topics than the typical “Silver Dollar Nips” attitude of the past. It will be interesting to see if they are overlooked as sketchy geniuses like MF Grimm or if they’ll receive kudos from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. I’m sure it will be worth checking out in December. Once again, time will tell.

The song was scheduled for release on October 28.