Local CD roundup: Sims, One For The Team, T.Q.D.
Jamie Maldonado
One For The Team
(Self-released)
You know you’re dealing with a different sort of rapper when his stage name is an acronym for “The Quiet Dude.” T.Q.D.’s sophomore album, Clench, Grit, Breathe, matches his moniker. It’s a decidedly low-key collection, recalling the similarly subdued brilliance of early-’90s rap stalwarts Gangstarr on taut and jazzy tracks like the woodwind-flecked “Skyline.” Unfortunately, for every innovative and tasty sample—like the skittish Celtic-sounding string section woven through “Saunter”—there are too many paint-by-numbers tracks built around uninspiring melodies. T.Q.D. isn’t yet a charismatic enough MC to handle the heavy lifting if his backing track is weak. He’s got laid-back rhyming on lockdown, but he might want to slam some Red Bull for his next recording.
Decider Grade: B-
Upcoming show: April 4, Dinkytowner Café
One For The Team, Build A Garden
(Afternoon Records)
The twee power pop pleasures of One For The Team got a little bit too saccharine for its own good on last year’s sophomore album Build It Up, an error the group wisely corrected on its new follow-up EP. Build A Garden recasts four Build It Up tunes in starker, more stirring arrangements alongside four new tunes. Stripped to their essence, the older songs thrive in their new settings, dominated by acoustic guitar and keyboards, while still leaving room for some sharp electric guitar fills courtesy of frontman Ian Anderson. While prior albums established One For The Team as able acolytes of the Weezer School Of Rock, Build A Garden shows the group's reach extends far beyond power-pop crunch.
Decider Grade: A-
(Doomtree)
Rather than water down full-length albums with ill-fitting tracks or leave solid songs on the cutting-room floor, Doomtree puts out the bite-sized False Hopes mini-albums as companions to its more cohesive official releases. Sims might not always be the fastest rapper in the room, but he’s built his rep and repertoire around a fierce work ethic and a strong empathetic streak for the common man. Less technical than his Doomtree compatriot Mictlan and less anarchical than P.O.S., Sims exudes the sense that he’s gotten everything he has by the force of his own hands and hustle. The standouts here are “Like You Mean It,” an unexpectedly nimble and jittery track that Sims fashions into an iron anthem, and “Rap Practice,” a Gift-Of-Gab-esque, old-school workout that closes with the line, “My practice rap’s sounding better than your album track.” The playful boasting expands his bootstrap persona nicely, and the whole disc whets the whistle for his forthcoming full-length.
Decider Grade: B+
Upcoming show: April 3, Triple Rock Social Club
