Gym Class Heroes

Travie McCoy’s aspirations of billionairedom last year brought about rumors that his band Gym Class Heroes had hit the skids. Apparently that wasn’t true, as McCoy’s reunited with the Heroes to make a sequel to The Papercut Chronicles, which was the band’s sophomore album. After that album dropped six years ago, Urban-Outfitted scenesters got permission from the cool police to enjoy hip-hop. As the band’s star rose, its sound made a shift from emo hip-hop to glitzy hip-pop, concurrent with McCoy’s then-relationship with pretty girl singer Katy Perry. With The Papercut Chronicles II, the group promises a return to form, despite a first single dependent on a poppy Adam Levine chorus. If listeners can get past all of that overproduced fluff, there’s some impressive flow and some infectious goofball energy to be had.

Updated 07/11/2011