Crime Mob

Album Review

Crime Mob wouldn't know a new idea if it flew into their cough syrup, but they're as on point as crunk comes. Rock-solid sparse grooves and simple confrontational anthems are what you'll find on the group's debut album, a collection that's as limited as it is spirited. The pumping party jam "Knuck if You Buck" is the click to pick by far but "If You Got Ana" and "Diggin Me" would be an asset to any Southern mixtape they land on. Even though "Ellenwood Area" contains those clichéd and tired Exorcist chimes, it's a restrained relief from the rest of the rowdy album and one of the few tracks that gives the group personality. The other creepers — "If You Gonna Try Me" and "Put Yo Hands Up" — aren't as successful, and they're lumped together with "Ellenwood Area" in the running order. Hitting the "shuffle" button solves that but doesn't fix the album's need for some more outside ideas and experience. The instant success of "Knuck if You Buck" probably rushed the album, but the group's lyrical skills are obvious. It's enough to take the album in half or quarter slices and enough to hope they have better handlers next time. As it is, their debut is rowdy, alive, and what you would point to if someone wanted straight-up-the-middle, undecorated party crunk.