(hed) P.E. -- 'New World Orphans' [review]

(hed)P.E. - New World Orphans
Suburban Noize (1/13/09)
Rap-rock / Metal

(hed)P.E. is an interesting case of contradictions. On the one hand, it's good to see that the years the band spent on a major label—where it was very clear that their sound was being distorted and manipulated to appeal to a wider audience—didn’t seem to crush their spirit. On the other, perhaps some of those constraints did them a little good.

On this album, all the positives the band has to offer—the smooth flow of the vocals, the tight instrumentation, the smart song construction—keep getting weighed down by the negatives also brought to the table. Some of the songs rely a little too much on the band’s punk sensibilities and are just too short. (The "get in, kick ass, get out" attack could work, but we know that they can craft good three- to four-minute songs, and have a good sense of hooks, so why waste time on little bursts that ultimately destroy any flow the album starts to create?)

Another glaring issue is the lyrical choices made on some of the tracks. A song like "Stepping Stone" has a fantastic, hook-laden chorus, but the opening salvo ("I just want to tie you up and rape you") doesn’t even work in terms of the song’s message.

But the good on here is really good. The reggae flavor of "Ordo" and the deep groove of "War on the Middle Class" is great, while the metal attack of "Stay Ready" and "Renegade" is done in trademark (hed)P.E. style. And the slow-burn of "Flesh and Blood" is actually a nice use of punk melded to the band's rap-metal assault.

Then there's the bad, like the above-mentioned "Stepping Stone" and all its wasted potential. And the stereotypical "Family" starts off promisingly but then quickly devolves to a typical, "mine’s bigger than yours," bad rap song. The over-too-soon "Live or Die Free" never really takes off, and too many intros broken off as their own tracks clutter the latter half of the album. And, of course, let's not forget the expendable (but obligatory for a Suburban Noize release) pot-anthem, "Higher Ground", featuring the Kottonmouth Kings.

Sandwiched between the two parts are some interesting moments, like the schizophrenic "Planet X" (easily one of the band's most successfully far-reaching tracks), complete with mid-song surf-rock riffing; the low-key, melodic "Self Aware" which is a nice change of pace; and one of the best songs of this set, "Tow the Line", which borrows a very familiar melody to great effect.

Ultimately, it looks like there's a good album hiding in there, but there's too much fat to trim away, which is gradually becoming (hed)P.E.'s calling card. Twenty-four tracks? Really? Even the overriding message, about the "new world order" and calls for a change, is, in the end, muddied by segues and tangents about sex and drugs and being truly “gangsta.”