FOREIGN LEGION - The Secret Knock EP - 2008 - EP review

FOREIGN LEGION – The Secret Knock EP – 2008 – EP review
TRACKS: Fresh Air – Ain’t The Same – Piano Banger – Man Of The Streets – Come To The City – Love Of The Game
SOUNDBITE: "Flow like a haemophiliac in a moshpit"
RATING: 3.5/5
2003 saw the release of Bay Area hip-hop crew Foreign Legion's last full-length LP Playtight which swapped the occasionally derivative boom-bap of their debut Kidnappervan for humourous high-octane party bangers rich in seventies funk, soul samples and more inventive beats. Naturally, they capitalised on this purposeful new direction by promptly disappearing off the map as a unified whole for five years in order to tread the well-worn path of indulging in various solo projects, none of which have had the impact of the group's concerted efforts. In the intervening time, as Mos Def once said, "A lot of shit has changed: a lot of shit has not". On the one hand, Foreign Legion is now reduced to rapper duo Marc Stretch and Prozack Turner and current tour vinyl spinner DJ Flip. On the other, this six-tracker rocks a very similar style to Playtight - and - as most of it is Prozack produced - suggests he was influential on the change of sound between the first two albums. First track Fresh Air's orchestral soul loops are a bit too Kanye-smooth though Stretch and Prozack's distinctive voices give it a bit of leverage as they ponder on why they bother. Ain't The Same is basically a reflective retrospective look at FL's career with a suitably 80s synth and clav sound. These two are ok but (like the cover) give a sense of beating around the bush a bit and FL don't sound like they're properly back until Piano Banger which appropriately enough is both a banger and has a piano. And a clav. And scratches. And the best lyrics - Prozack and Marc Stretch sound like they've finally woken up because they're amped about something - in this case the fact that they ain't getting the recognition. Mind you - if you will bury your best tracks in the middle of your record...Man of the Streets annoyingly heads back to a sonic cocktail bar on the corner of Smooth and Main but Come To The City's cynical look at L.A. picks up the slack again with some heavy, albeit busily layered, funk, though the beat feels a little buried. Last track Love Of The Game finds the duo confessing that despite the shit pay, lack of recognition and nubile groupies they do it all because they love it and indulges a stuttering RnB beat with cheesy 80s piano and guitar. It doesn't quite have the humour of Playtight and the track order seems a little bit unevenly paced but there's enough on here to bode well for the summer's LP.
Out now.
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