AMS album of the week: Government Plates

Death Grips rose to prominence with the 2011 mixtape Exmilitary. This still stands to this day as one of my favourite hip-hop records. It’s raw, filled with crushing industrial beats and has, in MC Ride, a very unique rapping style. 2012 saw two more albums: The Money Store and NO LOVE DEEP WEB, both of which I found a bit disappointing, and then shit really hit the fan. NO LOVE DEEP WEB was leaked by the band to bypass the record label who wanted to delay release until 2013. This resulted into Death Grips being dropped and the cover of NO LOVE DEEP WEB being an erect penis with the album name drawn onto it (also available as a t-shirt). Since then it’s got even weirder. Their set at Lollapalooza this year was a suicide note being read out over feedback, and then they cancelled a tour they hadn’t even announced. The most recent record, Government Plates, was released with little fanfare. Luckily, it turns out that in amongst all of the crazy bullshit, Death Grips were actually recording a really good album.

The crushing industrial beats, viciously shouted rapping and dissonant keyboards all remain. In fact, the main sound is still fairly similar, but the song structures are far more interesting. There’s slightly quieter bits, there’s a few bits that sound a hell of a lot like Nine Inch Nails. The industrial influences seem to have progressed to industrial rock in places, rather than the pure noise that seemed to dominate earlier releases. Highlights include the schizophrenic Anne Bonny, the hectic This is Violence Now and the hypnotic, almost tribal, Feels Like a Wheel. There’s a few tracks that don’t quite hit the spot for me, lead single Birds just feels a bit too flat for me and Whatever I Want is a bit too techno for my tastes.

I always felt like my indifference towards the two 2012 records was due to having overlistened to Exmilitary and being a bit tired of the whole concept. I’m not sure whether my enjoyment of this one is because I’m now ready to listen to Death Grips again, or because it’s actually better. Either way, it’s a really good album. Big fans of Death Grips will almost certainly enjoy it, though I can’t imagine this converting anybody who doesn’t like them. For those of you who fall in between, this is definitely amongst their better output, and is definitely worth your time.