The Pirate Signal

The "oh sh*t" has always been the unshakable currency of hip-hop. Sure, there've been attempts to devalue it - the lackluster opening battles in the movie 8 Mile come to mind - but experienced hip-hop heads don't go around wasting their monthly "oh sh*t" budget. After seeing The Pirate Signal for the first time in about a year, though, I've got to say this: Spendthrift head-nodders, be ready to break your neck, break out your wallet and break the god damn bank. The Signal slimmed down since last year, streamlined to emcee/producer Yonnas Abraham and DJ A-WHAT, and in that time, they've thrown together a tight new sound. That's not "tight" in outdated slang. We're talking tightly wound. And with each surprise that comes with each unraveling, there's another and another "oh sh*t" moment. The new stuff, including "You Will Get Dirty," which you can hear on their myspace, is put together with a patient hand. It's lean and economical. And while there's still the same sense of songwriting as 2004's Norma(l) Hugh Manchild's American Revolution(s), the new stuff isn't so overtly political. And that's cool. That's cool because the most controversial, most political things to come out of the Pirate Signal aren't straight-up condemnations of one politician or another, or calls to arms for form of government X over Y. See them live. The revolution is in the record needle. It's in the swelling horn that gets just a little painfully loud before falling into the beat. It's in screams into the mic when the music drops. It reaches into the viscera and twists. -John Zwick ___________________________________________________________________ On {The} Pirate Signal's 2004 debut, Norma(l) Hugh Manchild's American Revolution(s), the band placed much of its focus on production and penning impressive lyrics, and not enough time working on its cadence and flow. Subsequently, the album made for a tough listen. On its latest self-titled effort, the crew has simplified things and injected more soul into its raps. The growth is most evident on tracks like "An Emergence of Black Heroes," featuring Dow Jones and D.O. the Fabulous Drifta. A riot-starter that takes sellout rappers head-on, the cut is one of the finest to come out of the scene in the past year. Elsewhere, Signal MC and producer Yonnas gets funky on the '70s blaxploitation-groove-inspired "You Will Get Dirty" and adds sing-song flow over the brass-punctuated strains of "I Can't Wait." With the exception of the rap-rock-inflected "All I Know Is.....It Was an Accident," {The}Pirate Signal is an outstanding piece of work.-Quibian Salazar-Moreno (Westord) __________________________________________________________________________________