But your not going to be signed to Roots Manuva’s label if you think all you have to do is swear your way through 42 minutes on your debut CD.

On YoYoYoYoYo there’s some of Roots’ humour, some attempts at another fellow Big Dada, Busdriver’s speed spit work and lots of sex and swearing (the new Crunk?).

Spank Rock seem to be mostly a duo of MC Spank Rock (aka Naeem Juwan), Chris Rockswell (beats) and Producer XXXchange (computer drums).

The first single, ‘Rick Rubin’ created a buzz as setting yourself up as a mid-noughties equivalent of the man is the type of arrogance only the youth have. I wonder if they know Rick’s recently got together with Neil Diamond? Anyway, the album version is just as good and the Latin percussion and computer game bleeps make it winner.

Also on the album is the next single, ‘Sweet Talk’ (Release date 3rd April 2006). This is another homage to an all-time great, James Brown (via Gang Of Four). With the help of backing singers, the Typical Girls, MC Spank Rock does a fair impression of the Godfather and there’s an interesting use of the Northern Soul classic, ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’ but don’t get the idea ‘Sweet Talk’ will be picked up for a KFC advert in the near future.

This album is more than a couple of singles, ‘Backyard Betty’ is a strong opener telling the tale of an “ass-shaking competition champ” and ‘What It Look Like’ is the sophisticated one with the violin-based beat.

The use of violins on a few of the tracks helps keep these boys in the ‘independent hip hop’ filing system but they’re Beastie Boy punx at heart, see ‘Far Left’ and ‘Touch Me’. ‘Bump’ is the longest track on the CD as it features the foul-mouthed porn rap of Amanda Blank; the thought of what she’d do to/with ‘Play’ is scary.

To keep up with the B-More sound, see link below to Aaron Lacrate’s myspace site and the #1, ‘Blow’ (also with Ms. Blank).

This is a great debut. Spank Rock are to hip hop what Test-Icicles were to indie about 12 months ago. It was a pity that just as the Icicles were just getting into grindie (Grime and Indie) when they imploded. Spank Rock are no substitute but on ‘Competition’ the electric guitar gets a riff, so you never know.

Looking forward to reports of the Ninja Tune / Big Dada tour in Japan (see below) just before the Europe CD release date with an American tour to follow.

Reviewed: Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo (Big Dada) Cat. No. BD091 Release Date: 10th April 2006
1. Backyard Betty (3:28)
2. What It Look Like (3:06)
3. IMC (2:33)
4. Rick Rubin (3:33)
5. Touch Me (3:24)
6. Bump (5:19)
7. Sweet Talk (4:12)
8. Chilly Will (4:33)
9. Far Left (3:53)
10. Coke n Wet (2:10)
11. Competition (3:32)
12. Screwville, USA (2:03)

Upcoming Live Dates:
6/04/06 - Fanj Twice, Osaka, Japan : Zen TV II - Coldcut, Live - Hexstatic, Live - Spank Rock, Live - Skalpel, DJ Set, Daedelus, Laptop Set
7/04/06 - Ageha, Tokyo, Japan : Zen TV II - Coldcut, Live - Hexstatic, Live - Spank Rock, Live - Skalpel, DJ Set, Daedelus, Laptop Set, DK DJ Set, Ross Allen, DJ Set

27/04/06 - Ottobar, Baltimore, MD, United States of America : Spank Rock, live “We are organizing a bus to get all you Philadelphians down to B-more to help us put it on BLAST! the bus will have some Drinkage on it so you can get your swerve on 95, come and see the show- hop back on board and get back to the city of brotherly love in one piece!!!”
29/04/06 - Mercury Lounge, New York, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
30/04/06 - Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
7/06/06 - Plaza Nightclub, Vancouver, Canada : Spank Rock, live
8/06/06 - Chop Suey, Seattle, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
9/06/06 - Holocene, Portland, Oregon, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
10/06/06 - Boca, San Francisco, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
11/06/06 - Spaceland, Los Angeles, United States of America : Spank Rock, live
12/06/06 - Casbah, San Diego, United States of America : Spank Rock, live

Europe Tour:
10/05/06 - Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
11/05/06 - Solid Steel @ Tryptch, Paris, France
12/05/06 - Radio Nova @ LA Scene, Paris, France
13/05/06 - Wesserwerk, Bern, Switzerland
14/05/06 - Gebaude 9, Cologne, Germany
15/05/06 - Atomic Cafe, Munich, Germany
16/05/06 - Knaack, Berlin, Germany
19/05/06 - Fabric, London, United Kingdom
22/05/06 - Club NME @ The Plug, Sheffield, United Kingdom
23/05/06 - Barfly, London, United Kingdom
24/05/06 - King Tuts, Glasgow, United Kingdom
25/05/06 - Hi Fi Club, Leeds, United Kingdom
26/05/06 - Roadhouse, Manchester, United Kingdom
27/05/06 - Digital, Newcastle, United Kingdom
28/05/06 - Dot To Dot Festival @ Stealth, Nottingham, United Kingdom
1/06/06 - Rust, Copenhagen, Denmark
2/06/06 - Bla, Oslo, Norway
3/06/06 - Rodeo Magazine Party @ Stockholmsterassen, Stockholm, Sweden
4/06/06 - Garden Party, Dublin, Ireland

Links:
www.ninjatune.net
www.myspace.com/spankrock
Frank Wilson – Do I Love You.
10 B-More Butt Shakers: 01. Lacrate, Spank Rock & Blank – Blow (Milkcrate), 10- Spank Rock – Bmore Gutter Music (Milkcrate)
www.myspace.com/aaronlacrate
User Comments on 12 Songs “Best Neil Diamond songs in 30 years. Thank God for Rick Ruben”.