:: The Herd - The Sun Never Sets

The Herd

Get down and serious into The Herd’s third and new offering, The Sun Never Sets. This album, from one of Australia’s most recognised top hip-hop acts, offers an eclectic mix of styles, instruments, and themes. Slowly, slowly, The Herd comes running, from the backdrop of a sun behind them, as the beats get faster, and stronger, with different languages mixed in as the intensity gets to a climatic peak. These guys want to show how unpredictable they are; they want to ground their cultural diversity into their music and they are more than proud to show it. Their topics range from Long Lunches and corporate ‘problems’, to National Holidays, to politicians, to society ills and its ‘advancements’, to even Starship Troopers (although I am sure that it is more in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that they name and sing their songs; in fact just like the way their lyrics are written! But would you say, “Ho!” if I said Pauline Hanson?” in We Can’t Hear You, leaving you to wonder if it is referring to Unkle Ho of the band). You can only guess and scurry for the meanings their songs. Which means, go listen to the album, and go listen to it again, because extra listening is required in order to feel the full extent of their songs. The confident sleek vocals of Berzerkatron, Ozi Batla, Urthboy are firm but cool, angsty but with ‘universal love’, and they use them to help draw out the issues that matter to them. You also get your serious, your scathing, your mellow and melancholic tunes. But what I really like about this band is their willingness to play instruments (and a fair variety as well, ranging from guitars, accordions, clarinet, trumpets, cello, keys, to bass). You even get your dose of the instrumental without vocals - aptly called Where Is Everyone? They remind me of some of the more interesting, insightful hip hop bands of present day that try to infuse their cultural backgrounds into their hip-hop attitude. Most admirably, they still manage to retain their Australian-ness. Honestly, how much more interesting do you want it to be? A band with a sense of humour, a touch of intellectuality, a force of music and skills, lyrics and issues that needs to be addressed - start bopping your head along to this well-produced album; The Herd is coming right at you.