POCKET DWELLERS
PD-Atrics
EMI
· Eight-piece Toronto hip hop outfit lays down jazzy, groove-heavy beats.
The fact that the Pocket Dwellers use live instruments to capture their smooth sound rather than using samples isn’t news. Groups like Herbaliser do it just as well and have the added benefit of being from the U.K. to boost their international profile. But the Dwellers’s latest PD-Atrics does offer some even (if sometimes cheesy) flow. If non-confrontational hip hop is your thing, the strains of strings and acoustic guitar will do the trick for you. If you like something more raw, there isn’t much here, aside from the album’s standout track "Got Faith?" – with simple snare hits and fuzzy bass accents, the rhymes come right to the front. With PD-Atrics, Pocket Dwellers strike an odd balance of easygoing and serious that doesn’t commit to one avenue strongly enough to be more than a modest success.
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