Brougham

Brougham is the musical embodiment of high school friends. Jason Slater (formerly of Third Eye Blind) and Luke Sick (who used to be a vital contributor to Sacred Hoop) grew up on the culturally diverse streets of Palo Alto, Calif.

Brougham’s debut release “Le Cock Sportif” is another in the now affluent line of rap/metal albums. However, “Le Cock Sportif” breaks free of the boundaries that are normally associated with this genre of music.

The album opens with “Don’t Speak English,” which is possibly the most conventional rap/metal song on the album. This is a song that leaves the listener wondering what point exactly Sick (the rapper on the CD) was trying to get across. Let’s just say it is open to interpretation.

In other songs the meaning is obviously portrayed in the song title. “Bong Hits,” “7th Grade” and “Hubba Rock” are about the Big 3 for rock artists: sex, drugs and alcohol.

But don’t prejudge Brougham as the stoned-out, dumbfounded bands of yesteryear. Sick, who is a voracious reader and a fan of John Steinbeck and J.D. Salinger, incorporates his intellect into even the “drug songs.”

With lyrics in “7th Grade” like “‘Cuz I protest wit paragraphs perverted, Tipper [Gore] gets offended no matter how I word it,” it is obvious that Brougham keeps one ear to the street while the other is in the library.

These three aforementioned songs can, at times, sound like a cross between Sublime and Tito Fuente. Caribbean drums and cymbals and even trumpets are sprinkled throughout these and other tracks alongside rap grooves and funk guitars.

Brougham’s intention with this CD. is to pay homage to Palo Alto, and the way it was before corporate America (a.k.a. Apple) infused their society into streets that used to be named after poets.

If you are interested in seeing how the boundaries of the newly formed rap/metal genre can be tested, “Le Cock Sportif” is for you. If you don’t dig the urban grooves, “Le Cock Sportif” may leave you with a sense of indifference.

Paul Kix

Rating based on a ***** scale.