Flatbush Zombies w/ The Underachievers
Blue Moose Tap House — Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
Flatbush Zombies, performing tonight at the Blue Moose Tap House, should bring to mind two things: the Brooklyn neighborhood and, well, zombies. These associations are quite apropos as Flatbush Zombies do indeed hail from Flatbush and can seem pretty fucking scary.
Many of their early songs reference the zombie-like behavior that is supposedly induced by “bath salts,” and through their career, they have continued to mine the darker side of hip hop and drug culture. However, what is most terrifying about the music of Flatbush Zombies is not the horror-movie posturing. Instead, it is what they represent: an outsider cultural politic that seems totally unconcerned with trying to accommodate those around them. Be offended all you want, Flatbush Zombies aren’t going to shut up and be polite.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Flatbush Zombies’ music — both in terms of the lyrics and the beats — is their blatantly psychedelic outlook. The lyrics are an almost constant stream of references to drug culture, both mystical and countercultural themes, and their favorite strain of cannabis, “Sour Diesel” (seriously, try to find a song that doesn’t reference it at least once). The music has a searching (though not necessarily calm) quality to it, as if they are trying to take hip hop into uncharted territory, against its will if necessary.
Flatbush Zombies will be performing with fellow Beast Coast psychonauts The Underachievers. Evidently, the two groups have formed a supergroup known as Clockwork Indigo and have released one song (“Butterfly Effect”) under the moniker. Little else is known about that project, so who knows? Maybe we’ll bear witness to the next big thing in hip hop this weekend at the Blue Moose.
