Bretzel Zoo: Baywatch
Eat Concrete

Baywatch, Herrmutt Lobby's Bretzel Zoo follow-up to the Bassfudge Powerscones EP, serves up seventeen minutes of blistering “electro crunk” with phat beats, trippy atmospheres, electronic mayhem, and roughed-up bass lines the order of the day on the new EP's seriously twisted tracks. Like an imploding tank, “Shugaring Emrod Baywatch” trudges into position to squeal out its deranged electrified hip-hop song, before shifting into grime-laden, electro-funk mode. On the B side, “The Dunk” rolls out a slow funk pulse that's not so much head-nodding as neck-snapping and then sprays it with arcade-electronic tomfoolery and an occasional computer voice. Disjointed rhythms drive the stuttering, bass-pummeling groove in “Carapitch,” while the ever-so-politely-titled “Don't Let the Rain Come in Your Ass” slows its boom-bap down to a lascivious crawl. File Bretzel Zoo's crunk cuts under “Uncompromisingly experimental and forward-thinking instrumental clip-hop.”

September 2009