Some may look at Bettie Rocket's foray into hip-hop rock / rapcore / nu metal with a pinch of suspicion. "Is this another co-option of a proven, marketable musical style?" To these skeptics, I want to point out that it's supposed to be about the music, after all, and E-SO delivers the rock. Like Stavesacre and Narcissus, this band understands dynamics and the sensibility of the hook. Sure, there's some hip-hop vocal attitude and slang, but the mighty guitars nail you with an authority not often found in debut albums. And those vocals carry a smooth tonic that goes down really sweet. At times it's powerful, at times tips the scales. It very rarely coasts. In the same way that a new hip-hop rock band named after a tennis shoe made a lot of people look at Screaming Giant Records in a new way, E-SO is going to turn some heads in the direction of this "crash culture" label.
