Records

Rip It Up, Issue 115, 1 February 1987, Page 18

Records

Beasties Eat Quiche

Beastie Boys Licensed to 111 Def Jam

The gooks, the lily-livered and particulary the British rock press are all trying to crucify the Beasties for being sexist, violent, arrogant, drunken dickheads. But they cant, because no matter how much wet liberal, bleeding-heart cry-baby sensitivity they pull on us, real men know the Beastie Boys are no more an anathema than Mailer, Miller, Mitchum or Muhammad Ali. Sure, some of those guys don't make much sense these days, some are a little punch drunk, and at least two of them have gone and got themselves snuffed. But though Beastie Boy MCA hasn’t apparently graduated past slugguns and weak beer, he and his posse of Brooklyn brats are doing for rap what Brando did for T-shirts and Bogart did for dirty overcoats. These guys are alright, they’re as tough as old Adidas. Licensed to 111, their first album, has the Beastie Boys as urban outlaws, midway between the Jesse James gang and the Great Train Robbers. Dammit. Because of this the Beastie Boys may end up more popular with the metallers and heavy rock fans than the B-boys. And with the predominant influences on this album being the likes of AC/DC and Motorhead, particularly ‘You’ve Got to Fight for Your Right to Party’ and ‘No Sleep ’till Brooklyn,’ the Beasties make great music for smashing flats and beer bottles to. Hell yeah. Plenty of booze, fast skateboards, and def females. "Girls! To do the dishes / Girls! To

clean up my room ...” Ad-Rock cheerfully sings, and what a good idea that is too. Problem is too many girls these days are real women, and you try to get them doing a little domestic work and you’re liable to get a broomhandle where even your mother wouldn’t clean. Most of this album is pretty wild, as clubgoers who dance to ‘The New Style’ already know. That rap is a strong beat like Run DMC’s ‘Walk This Way,’ that for no reason at all breaks into a speech by AdRock and then a whole lot of anarchic B-boy lowing. Go on, low to it. Tm Down,’ the Beatles’ song which Ad-Rock reported in last month’s Rip It Up was going to be on this album, is not included. Michael Jackson, who owns the rights to most of the Beatles’ songs, and who everyone knows is not a real man, refused to let the Beasties press it. But in true hiphop fashion ‘Slow Rider’ borrows the riffs of War’s ‘Low Rider,' and ‘Time to Get lII’ features cuts from Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Mr Ed theme song. They’re not strong raps, but they do add to the stories and bum-rap braggings of beer swilling and disorderly, beastie behaviour. ‘Brass Monkey’ is funny as well as funky, as the boys show they can make idiots of themselves as well as the next man. ‘Hold it, Now Hit it,’ with Kurtis Blow and Slick Rick (previously with Doug E Fresh) providing the chorus, is an oldie, and so is ‘Slow and Low,’ which was first penned by Run DMC. ‘She's On it,’ the Beasties’ first big hit, is not on the album but there are rumours that CBS are to release it on a 12" along with a NZ-initiated Def Jam compilation. Enough said. The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to 111 is one of the best albums you'll hear this year, and if I were you I’d buy this album and spend the rest of your money on beer, slug-gun pellets and chasing def girls. Weiners need not apply. Peter Grace