EartH, Hackney
“How’s that sound?”
Rapper Billy Woods asks this pertinent question to the crowd, beset on perfecting maximal sound and minimal lighting for tonight's setting. Elucid pertains the other half of U.S. hip-hop duo Armand Hammer; assuming production duties and occasional bars, collectively chastising with an engrossing ferocity on their latest LP, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips.
With phones buzzing against a soundscape of static noises, ‘Landlines’ offers an indelibly perfect introduction to the duo’s latest material, clamouring an air of desperation and respite from recent trials and tribulations (“I be bleeding through, I be needing now, I can’t wait to show you out”). Glitchy, industrially-charged production courtesy of JPEGmafia’s dexterity brings ‘Woke Up and Asked Siri How I'm Gonna Die’ to life; clashing such tenacious fingerprints (“I ain’t seen the bottom yet, drag the whip on her collared neck”) against the expertly-crafted rhyming schemes of Woods (chainsaw; law; carnivore; raw), marking a surefire contender for one of the most attention-thrusting singles of this year.
Whilst the raspier tones of Elucid’s charismatic rapping brings a reminiscence of By Storm’s (formerly known Injury Reserve) eclecticism, the duo's contrasting elements brought forth in ‘The Flexible Unreliability’ brings an emotional depth (“Certainty is a circle I don’t believe you”) seldom seen in today’s age of rap. Draped in an elusive cloak, the duo announce themselves to this crevice of East London with a blinding tenacity, filled with an experimentation not only between one another but against the wider rapping universe, brought to life for us witnesses narrowly peering in.
Transcending into the wider realms of the duo’s (and Woods’) repertoire, an inevitable appreciation is shown for the incandescent nature to such fervently righteous bars in years gone by. “Only bring more and more like dead explorers, I put a neat hole in Indiana Jones’ fedora” seethes against the signature, laid-back production of The Alchemist on ‘Indian Summer’, whilst 2019’s ‘Houthi’ pierces with a thinly-veiled threat toward potent challengers in their midst (“Careful what you ask for, you just might get it”).
Nevertheless, it’s Woods’ masterful penmanship which situates perfectly against Elucid’s evolved sampling to date: ‘N***ardly’s industrial-inflected facade covering a malevolent psyche (“When your end come, I’ll actually answer the phone just to drink your pain”); chaotic clashes and bass-swollen 808s on the Death Grips-esque ‘Trauma Mic’; a uniquely chilling brotherhood spilled within ‘The Key Is Under the Mat’. A litany of tracks spewed from the deeper plunges of their discography are offered, however, few reach the heights and pertinence of their recent aura conjured within We Buy - a promising omen for the ever-evolving relationship partaken by two musically-crafted brothers-in-arms.
From the duo’s collaboration on The Alchemist’s Haram and Woods' offerings on Kenny Segal’s Hiding Places and Maps (of this year, too), Armand Hammer continue to grapple with their dynamic dualism placed within tonight’s ominous performance tonight. At certain moments, these deep dives fall flat, suffocated against the comparatively more introspective and downbeat tropes pertaining to their material of old, yet lifted each time by an offering of their recent work thrown to the scrupulous crowd. The mysticism and prowess of such an evolving duo will invariably live on; forever controlling to the best of their powers every sentiment, thought, feeling, lighting and sound with devastating effect.
7.5/10
Armand Hammer's latest LP, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, is out now via Fat Possum Records and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Evgenia Gapon whose work can be found here.
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