1. Because MCA has survived the cancer that put the band on hiatus and the Beasties are back, with their long-awaited new album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (the album’s original release was put on hold after his diagnosis). And after the disappointment of To The Five Boroughs, it’s brilliant to have them not just in fine health but back on musical form. ““Oh my God, just look at me / Grandpa been rapping since ’83” raps Ad-Rock, but he still sounds as fresh as ever. Hot Sauce Committee is a gloriously funky, funny mix of yappy, fluid rapping, great samples, innovative sounds and filthy beats that will have you shaking your booty around your kitchen and put a strut in your step as you listen to it on your iPod. At least, it will if you’re me. You can listen to it here and dance around at your desk.
Oh, Ad-Rock *sigh* Your yappy rhyming skills are only equaled by your attractiveness
2. Because they’re living proof that being a sexist idiot in your youth (the on-stage cage dancers etc) doesn’t mean that you can’t grow up and learn something. In fairness to the Beasties, they were already rapping against domestic violence (“Why you got to treat your girl like that?”) on Paul’s Boutique, back in their ‘To All The Girls’ and ‘Hey Ladies’ days (I love ‘Hey Ladies’, by the way. It is awesomely funky, it’s more silly and fun then sleazy, and how can anyone not like a song with the line “Beatnik chicks just wearin’ their smocks”? It’s one of my favourite Beasties songs) but as time went on they became more and more actively engaged with spreading a feminist message, both in their songs (“I’m gonna say a little something that’s long overdue/The disrespect of women has got to be through/ To all our mothers and our sisters and our wives and friends/ I want to offer my love and respect to the end” rapped MCA in the fantastic ‘Sure Shot’) and in their public appearances – Ad-Rock used their 1999 MTV Award win to speak out against sexual violence at music festivals rather than engage in the usual industry backslapping. Oh, and he’s married to Kathleen Hanna, one of the most significant American feminist voices of the last two decades and an awesome musician in her own right. Funny feminist boys FTW!
3. Because Ad-Rock is still ridiculously attractive. I’ve fancied him since I was about 12 and saw him in Smash Hits, back in the Licensed to Ill days. Of course, I’d love the Beasties even if he weren’t so very easy on the eye and would never reduce anyone to their physical charms alone etc etc, but still, I’m only human.
4. Because they are genuinely, properly cool, in a way today’s Morrissey-circa-1987-haired hipsters can only dream of. This is because they are unafraid to be both very smart and very goofy. They may be in their 40s now, but they have no interest in trying to be (sigh) down with the kids – they’ve stayed confidently true to their own idiosyncratic tastes. They’re also keen to share their ridiculous jokes and passions with the world, rather than hoarding them up for themselves in a poncy elitist fashion.
5. Because, as part of this sharing of the love, they gave the world the word mullet to describe the horrendous haircut that previously had no real name. Having written a song about the infamous ‘do and its fans, ‘Mullet Head’, they expanded on the topic in the second issue of their sadly shortlived magazine, Grand Royal. I still have my copy of this issue, and the mullet piece is very, very funny.
6. Because, as the promotional video they made to celebrate their return shows, they still don’t take themselves very seriously.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBa5qp9sUOY]
7. Because they created, with Spike Jonze, what is still possibly the greatest music video of all time. I’ll never forget you, Nathan Wind (as Cochese).
Totally convincing. Till now, The Beastie Boys had just been a name to me but now here I am hunched under the desk jigging about to Nonstop Disco Powerpack. All reviews should be written like this – cut to the bullet-point! I’m not sure though, Anna, that being “human” is excuse enough for your dubious comments on Ad-Rock. Okay, you do mention his musical charms but, you know, you’re half-way down a very, very slippery slope whose awful terminus is valuing someone for their looks alone.
You’re right, David – it’s only a matter of time before I’ve got my own troupe of on-stage cage-dancers…
Anna, thanks for this. I’m a huge fan. After initially being put off by the macho hijinks of their first record, I came to seek The Beasties out after my mad crush on Adam Horovitz upon seeing him in ‘City of Angels’ (if I remember the title correctly) back in 1990. No one has made cuffed jeans look as cool. I have a weakness for short Jewish dudes like Ad Rock *swoon*
And they’ve earned the feminist ally bona fides over the years, no doubt.
Ad-Rock fanciers unite! I love that he’s married to Kathleen Hanna. They’re a celebrity couple whose existence makes me genuinely happy. I just wish they’d make music together…
It’s called lost angels and I feel really stupid because I’m 13 and I have a crush on him from that movie and his really old music videos from the 80s!
Thanks to Friend of the Anti-Room Colin Morris for giving me the link to this music-geeky and really interesting Ad-Rock interview.
I’m with you, Anna – Ad-Rock was a major crush for a long time (still is, actually!). I had the opportunity to interview MCA during the first Tibetan Freedom concert in San Francisco and was so impressed at how one trip to Tibet transformed him. He’s still a tireless crusader to the cause; hard to believe this is the same guy who used to refer to women as ho’s and bitches, lol.
The Beasties remain cool because they’ve evolve and continue to do so, both as musicians and human beings.
Heh, Ad-Rock’s admirers are all outing themselves today! And what you say about their evolution is very true. They’ve managed to stay true to themselves (and their funniness) while growing up musically and personally.
Dammit. Now I’ve got the line “make some noise for the beastie boys” going round and round in my head. Quick, pass me my Pet Shop Boys.
Fab piece, Anna! Their song, ‘Sure Shot’ is sometimes heard at US weddings (either that or I’ve just been to the right weddings) because of its lyrics:
I’m a newlywed, not a divorcee/ And everything I do is funky like Lee Dorsey
A rapping bride; now that’s the way to go…
‘Sure Shot’ as a wedding song! How brilliant. What with this and the pie-stall we were discussing the other day, I’m going to have to renew my vows to include all these fantastic new elements.
I LOVE ‘hey ladies’! it has just enough cowbell!
Totally agree on the Beasties, they always remain fresh without actually trying to be anything they are not, love the way they re-invent without having to loose themselves and the killer lines.
Spent the Picnic a few years ago dressed in an intergalactic outfit with 2 friends, we spent WEEKs making them…the small matter of peein in a boiler suit at a festival was …interesting…..
Hell yeah for the Beastie Boys
(I will take this opportunity to admit pulling a VW badge off a car parked in Market Street Ennis in the mid 80′s…. soz farmer man who owned it)
“…a gloriously funky, funny mix of yappy, fluid rapping, great samples, innovative sounds and filthy beats…” – I am completely green with envy at your ability to use words to describe music!! (And not just in English – your article about Tocotronic in “Denkmal” all those years ago revealed that you had a lot more command of the German language than you were letting on.)
Wow what a great new record man. Swinging all over the place