Street Sweeper Social Club
Self-titled
Warner Music Group
8/10

Tom Morello, guitarist and producer of the newest troupe on the block, Street Sweeper Social Club, calls it “revolutionary party jams.” I call it anthems for a nation. The latest project, named after your friendly neighborhood municipal employers of sanitation, is a recent collaboration between Rage Against the Machine’s Morello and The Coup’s Boots Riley.

Whether or not you believe in Morello’s and Riley’s political convictions, their arena rap/rock style captures the attention of the struggling middle-class (wo)man. I remember going with my friend and his father to watch SSSC open up for the NIN/JA tour back in May. Riley’s satirical rhymes over Morello’s RATM-esque riffs spoke to all of us struggling citizens, generations apart. “100 Little Curses,” the first single from the album, captures the essence that is Street Sweeper Social Club- “Till we make the revolution, I just hope your life sucks.” Give Wall Street the middle finger as you turn up the tunes on your iPod.

Let’s not forget how rad the album cover looks either. Still a believer in physical formats, I will end up buying the album twice. I was desperate for the jams. Amazon is selling the SSSC album in MP3 and CD formats. If you are like me and can’t wait, shell out that $8.99- it’s worth the head-bumping, fist-throwing, angry, recessional music for your ghetto blaster.

–Kateri Lirio