The Knux - Remind Me in 3 Days: Album Review
The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days (Interscope, 2008)
The Knux fled New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and landed in Los Angeles, where some tall Israeli spotted them and thought they might work as a sort of hipster rap answer to OutKast.
THE LIST
The one who calls himself Krispy Kreme has trouble getting into a club, because he's on the list as The Knux. Then the guitars kick in, and these uptempo, early '90s-style drums. I've never heard another rap song quite like this.
FIRE (PUT IT IN THE AIR)
A pot smokers anthem. Remember back when rap albums would always have a song about smoking weed? The guitars have less of a rock edge and more of an Isley Brothers vibe.
BANG! BANG!
You get the idea that they released this as a single because it sounds like something OutKast might have done circa Stankonia.
CAPPUCCINO
The song that put The Knux on the map. It doesn't have quite the same rock edge as some of these other tracks. Perhaps that was by design.
ROXXANNE
Thankfully, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the classic Police record. Didn't Diddy or somebody do a cover of that back in the late '90s? Good lord. I notice, when these dudes harmonize, they actually sound quite a bit like Timbaland, when he sings.
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
Ruh roh. This is treading dangerously close to Fergie-era Black Eyed Peas territory. They're dueting with some broad. I wonder if she's hot. The part where she's talking on the phone near the end gave me a semi.
THE TRAIN
Sort of a futuristic take on that one chain gang record. You know the one. This should come off as much more of a clusterfuck than it does.
SHINE AGAIN
All of a sudden, the vibe gets all serious. Kind of a buzzkill. I wouldn't mind as much, if it wasn't as corny.
LIFE IN A CAGE (ELECTRIC)
Hey, it's a reference to Wreckx N Effect, or however you spell it.
PEA KNUCKLE (SKIT)
An ostensibly amusing conversation, to help break up the flow of the album.
POWDER ROOM
Tell me this is a song about sniffing blow, and they're not just calling it the powder room to appear "eccentric."
PARKING LOT
I wonder if the part at the beginning where the guy tells a girl her pussy probably smells like a tuna sandwich was scripted. If so, why?
HUSH
The one where they try to prove they're straight by incorporating pr0n moaning noises into the chorus. Personally, I'm not gonna believe them until there's an uncut video for this up on World Star.
WAKE THE FUCK UP
Another one of these ones that sounds like a budget OutKast record. Not quite as strong as "Bang! Bang!" Note the Tyler Perry dis in the second verse.
PLAYBOYS
Whereas most of the tracks on this sound like classic hip-hop records with a little rock guitar tacked on, this one sounds like a full-on rock record, with dudes trying to rap over it. I'm glad there's only one track like this.
THE TRUE
Another one of these ones where they try to kick knowledge.
LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION
Muffled vocals + abrasive synths = I'm suddenly reminded of how much I drank last night.
COMMENTS: OutKast who? No but really, I'm shocked at how much I like this. Not that this is saying a whole lot, but I'd say this is definitely one of this decade's stronger hip-hop debuts. They're doing for rap music what TV on the Radio is doing for rock music. But at the same time, they're also doing for rap music what the Black Eyed Peas did for, erm, rap music. Even at its corniest, though, I found this album fairly listenable.
BEST TRACKS: "The List" "Fire" "Cappuccino"
BONUS VIDEO: "Bang! Bang!"
