The Arsonists: as the world burns

It's been high time for a challenge (or a compliment), and it comes in the form of the Arsonists. Their first album, As the World Burns—released on the yet again indie Matador Records—represents the vibrancy of the NYC scene. The liner notes proclaim, "We are not underground or commercial—we are hip-hop." A limited perspective, perhaps, maybe even a bit bold, but not bad for a working definition.

Composed of five MC's (formerly six) straight out of Brooklyn, the Arsonists first teamed up in 1993 as the Bushwick Bomb Squad. With ties to hip-hop mainstays Rock Steady Crew and Zulu Nation, they've had little trouble building a core following on the East Coast and in Europe.

The group's renown, despite their low-profile status, can be attributed to a purist emphasis on all four traditional pillars of hip-hop culture and to notoriously frenetic live shows. This style as substance—talking the talk and walking the walk—has carved the Arsonists their niche.

Moreover, MC's Q-Unique, Freestyle, D-story, Swel Boogie, Jise One, and Kinetic each bring a distinctive rhyme style to Burns. Speed seems to be the central commonality here; this is rapping nearing its legal limit. On "Blaze," for instance, Freestyle sets the pace with a lightning set of rhymes. As the track progresses, the deceptively simple beat is manipulated (and seemingly sped-up), while each successive MC comes with an even-faster-than-that verse.

The Arsonists mainly stick to writing about hip-hop and its culture. Many of these tracks are vehicles for warning MC's about the consequences of faking on the real. Rap puritanism is often the status quo, but the Arsonists rise above that norm convincingly, with dazzling metaphors and convoluted rhyme schemes: "Far beyond your wildest imagination/the illustration/suspended animation/I'll put you on course/cause you too busy bending rules/while I'm breaking laws/of gravity."

Produced entirely by the group, the beats on As the World Burns are almost as tight as the rhymes. "Pyromaniax" uses a Tom Waits-like circus loop to perfection, and the simplicity of the walking bassline and guitar chords on "Session" makes for good straight up hip-hop. Tracks like "Seed" and "Venom" rely on a more sophisticatedly synthesized minor-key sound; it's on these tracks that the Arsonists sound most comfortable and genre-pushing.

There are a few weak tracks on the album, but nothing to complain about. In the end, what distinguishes As the World Burns from other underground releases is its length (21 tracks, 65 minutes) and its high level of consistency. It's great to see a group like the Arsonists finally making it on their own terms, and doing it on an independent label other than Rawkus. As they say, "Some do less and get more exposed. We give quality." Can't argue with that. (Matador)

—Ben Landy

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