Beastie Boys / Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beastie Boys
Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
(Parlophone)
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Yo DJ? Pass the sauce! And while you're at it, feel free to praise sweet Jesus that the Beastie Boys have returned at all, following MCA's sobering brush with mortality.
What's instantly fantastic about 'HSCP2' is that, considering the NYC trio's last few records dealt with stripped back grittiness ('To The 5 Boroughs') and fruit cocktail instrumentals ('The Mix Up'), their follow up recaptures a sense of pranksterism, as well as a return to the 'Hello Nasty' approach of playing the studio like a spooky invisible instrument.

Did I just say 'pranksterism'? Hell yes mamma. The lead off single 'Make Some Noise' is not only pumped up and confident enough to assert that "the best is yet to come", but it also envisages the Beastie Boys opening a restaurant with Ted Danson ("The roaches check in but they never check out").

Elsewhere we get a cheese smorgasbord of different Beastie guises: 'Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament' cruises along like Robocop hunting for chicks, 'Nonstop Disco Powerpack' strips things back to two turntables (while Mike D experiences some serious robo-noize filtering down the mic), and 'Lee Majors Come Again' shoots us back to the band's hardcore punk days.

What can I say? The beats are phat, the rhymes are better than mine(s) and when all's said and done, it's just ace to have them back.