BeerFace and Pointing Fingers: (7'' Split Single)

Songs about gettin' trashed are hardly original, but BeerFace's "Number One" is a slick late '80s party rap retread. Anchored with a mean funk bass line, slow drum break, and a wealth of booze-themed foley, BeerFace (operating as Louie Dollars in other projects) muses at length on romanticized alcoholism. Beer guts and parking lot puke are entry level. This MC hopes they serve beer in hell and doesn't flinch at referencing passing out at the wheel. While it won't win awards with MADD, the track scores for being so devilish. Meanwhile, Pointing Fingers (producer Progeny in Chisme) drops "Goes So Hard" on side B as a perfect counter-point. If Beerface is rockin' the block party, Pointing Fingers is providing the 3 a.m. come down. Sounding somewhere between DJ Shadow's "Influx" and Jaylib's "McNasty Filth," "Goes So Hard" features an airy hook by Abagail and verses by Vega Knami, who rhymes furiously with a delivery that equates being in the zone with a bout of temporary insanity. While it's disappointing that the tension of Beerface's hedonism and Progeny's headiness isn't further explored (three more tracks from each of them would have made an interesting LP), this doc will indulge hip-hop vinyl enthusiasts.

★★★ (out of 5 stars)