Review: "Human Rites" by JE Double F
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Everything about JE Double F is dark—from the artwork on his newest album, "Human Rites", to the view of human nature presented in his work.
Just scan his all-caps track titles before listening:
FLESH IS A TRAP
SILENT WEAPON FOR A SILENT WAR
RECENTLY DECEASED
PROFESSIONAL VICTIMS
CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE
His punk/hip hop blend is like the Beastie Boys, but with way less partying and way more brooding.
Produced, written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by the prolific Jeff Richie, "Human Rites" is a particularly unique offering. The tracks are all around one minute in length, making the 15-song album more like a hip hop symphony of despair with 15 movements than an album. In a way, it could be heard as one long primal scream, or a series of jabs to your head before the final track, the only one that exceeds the two-minute mark, lands a knockout punch.
There is no radio-friendly single to be found here. Instead there’s nihilistic philosophy, dark humor, condemnation and self-deprecation.
On Human Rites, no one, including himself, escapes Jeff’s scorn.
From the second track, “Insides Out,” we get a song that starts with the lines:
I’m not sure who I hate more, you or me
Bruised up insides, heart spews blue and green
And ends with:
Some people don’t know their insides are rotten,
A war of attrition where the mission’s been forgotten,
We’re all fucked up from the insides out
JE Double F is, simply, not for the weak-willed or mild-mannered. This is music to take with you when staring into the abyss.
You can listen to "Human Rites" now or check out JE Double F as he tours the northeast in early June.