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Bad Books

Bad Books

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More About

• Nelly (Rapper)
• Toyota Prius
• Zach Hill
• Richard Hoffman
• Oneida

"You Wouldn't Have To Ask"

Power-pop so fulsome and at peace with its boundless melodic gifts that if you were to throw it on your cross-country road-trip playlist, you'd only have to gas up the Prius once.

"Just a Dream"

Most guys going through a divorce blow through a few one-night stands and blackouts. But Nelly's not most guys; he won't let go, feels obligated to pour his sorrows into pop-rap that has about as much flavor as a can of Tab.

"Man Forever I"

It's gotta be the snares, right? Oneida's Kid Millions—the focal point of this drum-kit-fronted project—has quite a knack for plugging the sonic gap with percussive thunder, even if that means the end result isn't as overtly combustive, tribal, or scattershot as a Black Pus or Zach Hill beat down. Ancillary players, including Sightings bassist Richard Hoffman and Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase, chip in with cosmonautical texture and depth, and as "Man Forever I" submerges your inner ear, it's easy to imagine this trio zooming through the Milky Way on some sort of rocket-powered stage, crouched and Spaceman Spiff-helmeted.

"Never Listen To Me"

In four pithy verses strung over what sounds like a neutered "Hungry Like the Wolf," Thermals nail marriage cold: "I'll give you all that I have/I'll tell you everything/Love of me all of my life/Never listen to me."

"Big in the Hood"

"Big boys, big bricks, big money, big whips." Tay forgot to mention his big ego, but production crew Inside Men compliment his over-enunciated B'more braggadocio with triumphant keyboards that pound like hammers and scurry like maggots on a fresh corpse.