Band: Deez Nuts
Release: Bout It (Album)
Release Date: 8th April 2013
‘Bout It’ is easily the coolest hardcore record of the year, and is hands down the best thing Deez Nuts has ever produced. It’s been seven years since frontman/founder JJ Peters started the band as a fun side-project (after the collapse of I Killed The Prom Queen) but he has finally produced something remarkable.
Dealing with the same lyrical themes that earned Deez Nuts their reputation as wild party animals – liquor, bitches, treating your friends like family, and living life your way no matter what anyone else thinks about it – this record is full of anthems to live by.
Musically, ‘Bout It’ packs the same meaty New York punk riffage we’ve come to expect from these guys, but delivered more clinically and with more feeling than ever before. The passion and precision on this record must be, in part, put down to their current lineup. For the past two years, JJ Peters has been jamming with fellow Australian Jon Green on bass and New Yorkers Mat ‘Realbad’ Rogers and Alex Salinger on guitar and drums respectively, in what is their most stable line up in ages.
A wealth of guest appearances from members of Architects, Madball, Suicide Silence, Hatebreed and many more adds to the atmosphere of ‘Bout It’. Deez Nuts have carefully cultivated a sense of community to go with their music, and having so many recognisable voices on this record goes a long way towards capturing that feeling.
The influence of hip hop on Peters’ song-writing is clearer than ever before on this record. The band has always created their signature sound by blending hardcore and rap influences together, (they’ve gone as far as to mirror hip hop culture with DTD, the band’s infamous international crew of like-minded party-buddies,) but this time round the references to the genre flow thick and fast. Whether Peters is quoting Tupac in ‘Popular Demand’ or referencing Notorious B.I.G. in ‘Streets Are Watching’ it’s clear that the Deez Nuts vibe owes a great deal to hip hop music.
This is Deez Nuts at their biggest and best. As a hardcore fan, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t go out right now and order ‘Bout It’. Play it loud, feel invincible.
10/10
Reviewer: Solomon Radley
