It’s springtime and people have big smiles on their face as they drive through the gnarly traffic with the windows down, letting the warm breeze wash away the bitterness of winter. Yes, we have an asshole for a president and the violence across the seas gets more unbelievable every day. But for just an hour, one can escape the madness with 15 tracks of deep hip-hop groove, positive and at times, sharp tongued analytical messages, and lyrical and musical finesse from three boys in the Springs.
Art is such a captivating media, as it reflects the world around us through the eyes of the beholder, the bewildered, the beat masters. Underground hip-hop in particular (not the bling bling kind) is poetry in rhythm, as the MC, the boys and girls holed up in their rooms with nothing but a pen/paper and their minds, go a million miles a minute with letters flying out of their fingers and face.
SCW is part of this crew full-force and give props to the people who give as much back just by being there during a show and acknowledging their craft on “Crowd Pleaser.” The backdrop is simple as is the chorus, but there is an intrinsic quality to their humble, appreciative, respective and abrasive aura. At times, an air of sophistication rises through smoky lounge like percussions, guitars, heavy bass, horns, piano sparkles, and pouring rain samples. There is the proverbial “girl’s dissin” type of track, but the thoughts portrayed in The Greatest…are more solid that love troubles, from the loss of life to a life worth living through music and friends.
The title is ironic, as I currently contemplate the all too common gamble that musicians take, the luck of the draw on who makes it and who doesn’t. Whether these guys make it or not is not the question here, it’s when are they playing next and what can we expect from their next album, and the one after that. SCW has longevity. Keep it comin’ guys.
You can pick up The Greatest That Never Made It on www.cdbaby.com, or better yet, support your independent retailers while supporting local music by getting the album from Independent Records, Wax Trax, Twist and Shout, Albums on the Hill and Pueblo’s Tapes and Records.
