WATCH Death Grips “Streaky” Video From The Upcoming, Year Of The Snitch LP

I’ve never been much of a Jay Z fan, am fairly indifferent about Elton John, and haven’t really listened to OZZY in recent years, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own favorite fake retirees that have claimed to permanently leave the game — for some, on multiple occasions — only to continue producing new music and/or touring well after.  Out of everyone, I believe that Richmond, VA rapper, Lil Ugly Mane might have been the most sincere about his intentions to depart from an industry that he found himself in for the artistic outlet, but never really intended to pursue a career in, beyod that.  One major difference, of course, is that he was never a mainstream figure selling out massive stadiums during a “farewell tour,” and it was likely the desire of LUM‘s fans and his work with a new project, Secret Circle — rounded out by friends/fellow emcees, Wiki (NYC) and Antwon (LA) — that found him resurfacing at the moderate scale that he has, up to this point.  Among the most dubious retirement announcements was the one that came from Death Grips in in 2014, when the Sac Town trio of caustic industrial rap electro-noiseniks claimed they were calling it quits just prior to embarking on a major tour where they had committed to supporting co-headliners Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden.  Known for keeping fans on their toes, if not for being all out hoaxsters, DG‘s retirement was always taken with a grain of salt, even if they genuinely did bail on their opening slot of the tour leaving NIN frontman, Trent Reznor — who previously fake “retired” from, and returned to, touring, himself — to tweet some shade regarding their move, not unlike that which he’d previous thrown toward Chris Cornell’s solo career.

That original announcement from Death Grips came with the promise of one final album being in the works.  That release, — the double LP, The Powers That B — took quite some time to hit shelves, only arriving after they dropped a free, unrelated instrumental effort, out of the blue.  Then… they never left, announcing a tour and following it up in 2016 with the Interview 2016 EP, a random single featuring the bass-work of Les Claypool, and their most recent studio album, Bottomless Pit, the same year.  A year ago, on May 22, 2017, an announcement was posted that they were “working on the new Death Grips album,” but “in the meantime” wanted to offer up a 22 1/2-minute track/mix titled, “Steroids (Crouching Tiger, Hidden  Gabber megamix).”  In September, they posted that they were “Working with Lucas Abela,” along with images of the Australian experimental artist manning his trademark setup, which consists of him slicing up his mouth while blowing on and manipulating sound with a giant shard of glass mic’d up to effects pedals.  It’s with this routine that he has been performing under the moniker of Justice Yeldman since the contraptions invention in 2003.  In the past, Abela (aka DJ Smallcock aka Granpa Abela aka Peeled Hearts Paste) has also experimented with such techniques as attacking vinyl records with Freddie Krueger-style stylus gloves, contact mic’ing objects hit with the liquid from a collection of IV drips, and amplifying samurai swords.

This March brought the update of “Working on the new album with Andrew Adamson,” captioning a photo of the Academy Award-winning New Zealand director/screenwriter/producer of the Shrek and Chronicles Of Narnia series reading from a sheet in the studio.  Three days later, Death Grips posted an image of Zach Hill “Working on the new album with [Tool bassist,] Justin Chancellor.”  Another week later, we got this…

Then, last month, they released the album cover art [see header image], and followed it up with this this screwball video announcing the tracklist that’s radiating with some hybrid cyber punk/Twin Peaks Black Lodge vibes.

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1. death grips is online
2. flies
3. black paint
4. linda’s in custody
5. the horn section
6. ha ha ha
7. shitshow
8. streaky
9. dilemma
10. little richard
11. the fear
12. outro
13. disappointed

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I don’t know how it is that Death Grips have managed to become one of the most spontaneous acts out there, always coming across as if they could drop anything at a moment’s notice, without absolutely any lead up; yet also feel like they are the most likely to provide a step-by-step, up-to-date progress report about where they are in their process.  As contradictory as it may seem, they really do have the ability to embody each of these opposing worlds, and, surprisingly/paradoxically enough, they often do so simultaneously.

At any rate, things seem to be moving quicker and quicker, at this point, and today we finally get our first real sample of what’s to come via a music video.  This one if for “Streaky,” also known as track #6 from Year Of The Snitch.  Check it out below.  Then, let us know how you feel about it, whether in the comment section, or by voting in the poll just below that.

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