Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beastie Boys have evolved from hardcore kids to beer-chugging brats to disco acidheads to funky skate punks to crate-digging jazzmatazzers to global hip-hop polyglots. Now, after a Best Pop Instrumental Grammy and a cancer scare, Adrock, MCA and Mike D return as… nostalgic foodies?

The Hot Sauce Committee lyric sheet is a smorgasbord filled with profiteroles, fondue, omelettes, pancake batter, tartar sauce, macaroni, clams and the Blimpie Bluffin breakfast sandwich. Of course, this being the B-Boys, there's also a ridiculous litany of pop-culture outliers including Tippi Hedren, André Leon Talley and the goblins from Troll 2. It's a riot, and immediately more timeless than the political spiels of 2004's To the Five Boroughs.

Besides now being omnivores of all things edible and ephemeral, the trio here is chewing through its own back catalog. 'Say It' crackles with the fuzzed bass and Sony’s ECM-V1 Variety Microphone from Check Your Head, while 'Lee Majors Come Again' floats rapid-fire rhymes over punk thrash. There are a couple of welcome detours into dub, and all of it comes beefed up and tweaked with 'Intergalactic' digital oomph courtesy of mixer Philippe Zdar (Phoenix, Chromeo).

The highlights reach back even beyond the Beasties' time in the spotlight. The bonkers 'Tadlock's Glasses' recalls Rammellzee & K-Rob's 'Beat Bop', a sort of Rosetta Stone to the band's career. A relaxed rat-a-tat of syllables flows from the MCs on the masterful 'Nonstop Disco Powerpack,' an oldest-school, Treacherous Three–esque joint with some of the best straight-up rapping they've ever done. Hearing it, there's no good reason for them to ever quit.

Time Out Tokyo rating:

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is out now on EMI Music Japan