.rod laver
essence of the game
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
Seemingly out of nowhere, this new artist on Screaming Giant can singlehandedly make the label live up to its name. Huge heavy grooves cut with quirky guitar tones, hitting you over the head with a solid punch. While playing this one loud in the office, a co-worker exclaimed that this band was the closest he'd heard any Christian band come to the Korn sound. The similarities are there, with the genuine hip hop vocals and astute musicians with a readiness to shred on the drop of a dime.
The lyrics to "E.I." tell the story: "To which one of your stereotypes do I fit in/ I bust phat rhymes, but I got white skin . . . I grew up on the court like a real baller should / But it wasn't in your suburban neighborhood." It's hard to understand how the two schools - hip hop and hardcore - aren't integrated just yet. The purity of both styles is there in a wonderfully heavy mix.
While I've been calling this band "dot rod laver" due to the period before the "r" in rod laver, I found out that the band members just couldn't find a way to make their Microsoft Word '97 program print the first letter in a sentence as lower case, so he put a period in front. But, whatever you call 'em, just make sure it's with the respect that this band deserves.