The Herd- An Elefant Never Forgets

In 2003, Australian band The Herd released this second album.

While Aussie hiphop is often mocked, personally I dig where it's coming from. Commercial American hiphop lyrics are often an egotistical boast of bitches / Bentleys / etc. However, Aussie hiphop often takes on a poetic or protest stance with its lyrics, which is fantastic. For me, it makes for wonderful background music for a barbeque with mates on a lazy sunny day. Not something you listen to intently, just a soundscape to create a good vibe. So be prepared for me to harp on endlessly about "the groove"!

The Plunderers gets straight into the activism, cleverly combining emotion with a thoughtful message, such as:
Your branding shines like gold
And hides the shit below
Unfortunately, like LG and Ray of Sun, I find the mood of the song quite depressive and lacking in energy.

States of Transit is more in line with what I love about The Herd. It has a nicely bouncing groove, which perfectly reflects the tale of skateboarding through the urban rat race.

Reggaeton and drum'n'bass are styles I struggle to enjoy. Therefore, Burn Down the Parliament, The After Party Brigade and The World Keeps Turning have no appeal to me. However, I do enjoy the smoother groove for the opening and chorus of Burn Down the Parliament; also the cheesy arcade game synth sounds of The After Party Brigade are fun.

The instrumental Hunter's Theme starts out smooth and builds up nicely. In this case, the drum'n'bass works well as the climax of the song.

Superweeds, Urban Lady Saloon and When You Thought Nothing Was Happening are too staccato for my liking. Croissant Para Zwei Na Črvtek is a nice cheesy French interlude.

77% is brilliant on so many levels. The groove is highly infectious, the lyrics are very emotive and the chorus is (expletive-laden) singalong greatness. This is a song I really enjoy cranking up loud, not least to spread the political message!

Hell epitomises the "barbeque music" style I mentioned earlier, thanks to its catchy groove and the tongue-in-cheek story. High Seas and Taki Taki also feature perfect beats to accompany the frying of sausages and pouring of beers...

Favourite songs

States of Transit, 77%, Hell, High Seas 

Worthwhile?

I try to avoid judging albums statistically (ie counting the number of Favourite Songs above). So although the count for this album is a bit low, there are still some good times and it is a nicely varied album.

Having said all that... I do much prefer their next album, The Sun Never Sets.