N8 No Face - "Twice Wrong"

Arizona's second largest city is Tucson. Even if original inhabitants are largely indifferent, the town was originally named "Chuk Shon." For the most part, though, anyone living in the village of the spring at the foot of the black mountain prefers the town's pet name: Old Pueblo. Still, a minority exists. In betwixt semantics there are some who prefer to employ an unofficial moniker for the half-million man city. "Circus of the Perverse" may incidentally connote negativity, but it is a terribly accurate nonetheless.

And it is from this three-ring circus that N8 No Face and his band of saboteurs originates. Between the university that dominates midtown, new wealth resting safely up north, and overlooked hispanic communities in the west & south exists...the rest. And it is for 'the rest,' that Hit+Run/A1R Records affiliated band Crimekillz makes music. Presently based in Los Angeles, this is a band specializing in outsider sounds. Hardly does the hard rocking, chiptune oriented Crimekillz fit into the tradition of Salvador Duran. Likewise, the blatant punk anger is largely foreign to the alternative aesthetics of Calexico and Lenguas Largas. So if anything, Crimekillz is in the vein of The Pork Torta and Mr. Free and the Satellite Freakout; independent, left-field, and cultish. But truth be told, N8 No Face & Zackey Force Funk do like a Sonoran hotdog and inhabit a realm all their own. Death Grips comparisons are piecemeal simply because the cross-section of punk and hip-hop is  so oft left unexplored.

Fortunately, exploration continues as "Twice Wrong" shows that not all shock is lost. Listeners are quick to note the signature, distorted vocals have not been discarded in preparation for both Crimekillz's CKLA and an upcoming solo EP. But while N8 No Face is no stranger to breaking beyond genre molds and more straightforward singing, it is instrumentation which is most interest. Synthesizer free, "Twice Wrong" features only electric guitar alongside vocal chords which calmy relate the narrator's story of, "Twice Wrong once right attracted to a good girl and good fights." Timely where current events are concerned, the tongue in cheek tone is piercing. Lyrically, "Twice Wrong" sees the singer delivery for effect and point of view for novelty. What follows is ultimately a subversively emotive song; it also happens to be quite good. The big take-away, this line near the end "But you know you could be free, you could fly / Still you stand by my side"

- John Noggle