For those who don't know, Street Sweeper Social Club is a new band that features Tom Morello, aka The Nightwatchman (member of Rage Against The Machine and formerly of Audioslave) and Boots Riley of hip-hop group The Coup. Their self-titled debut came out today, and I got to go to their record release party at NYC's Grammercy Theater.It was actually my third time seeing them: I saw them do a brief set at the Road Recovery benefit, and then again with Jane's Addiction and Nine Inch Nails two weeks ago.
It's weird seeing a band before you know their music - and in Tom and Boots' case, there's definitely expectations for this band. Especially for Morello: doing a political band with a MC instead of a singer makes comparisons with Rage irresistible.
SSSC is a lot more loose and more fun than Rage, and Boots Riley has a much better time onstage than RATM's Zach de la Rocha, who never lightens up. I daresay Zach could learn a thing or two from Boots, who has fun with being a frontman. There were a lot of great songs, although I don't know if their debut is a classic. It was a really tight show, I give it a B, I'm definitely going to pick up their album, and I'd definitely be into seeing them again.
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