Death Grips: The Money Store

Faced with an industry-wide apocalypse, major labels are pulling out all of the stops (read: mining the Internet) in a last-ditch attempt at revitalization. The Money Store is the first “official” album from Sacramento aggro-rap trio Death Grips. It’s also the first of two albums due from the group on Epic this year (WTFery, indeed). Due in part to producer/former Hella drummer Zach Hill’s overcaffeinated math attack, the backing tracks - formed in tandem with co-producer Andy Morin - too often fall into an exhausting, overstuffed bro-glitch groove. Vocalist Stefan Burnett is lost amid the chaos, shouting misanthropic non sequiturs and basically acting as hype man for the self-consciously showy instrumentals. The Money Store will doubtless be deafly heralded by some as one of the year’s best, and Death Grips deserve points for subversion (Burnett’s first act as an Epic signee? Tagging the company’s new bathrooms). But as rap albums go, it’s just kinda mediocre. (2 out of 5 stars)