When Bronson isn’t trying so hard to elicit cheap, frat boy style gags, he has some surprisingly insightful moments with ‘Saab Stories’.
It’s always interesting when a rap record makes no pretence of its sleazy, crass and ostentatious intentions, and former chef and wordsmith extraordinaire Action Bronson does just that on Saab Stories.
The EP’s served well by Harry Fraud’s well rounded, luscious and bodacious beats; there are some trap influences on ‘Alligator’, but for the most part Fraud keeps his beats nice and elastic. When you have a producer and rapper that complement each other as well as Bronson and Fraud do, half the work is already done.
What is most striking about Saab Stories is the unapologetic filth that dominates practically each and every verse; yes, it’s a rap record, but there’s interesting story telling and then there’s gratuitous grubbery, which Bronson embraces wholeheartedly here.
There’s a pervasive sense that Bronson doesn’t really care for good taste (unless it’s food) and the gleeful relish with which he sprays lines like “hold my dick while I take a piss” serve only to elicit guffaws from the lads.
As well as seemingly un-ending references to vaginas, it wouldn’t be an Action Bronson record without food analogies woven throughout. Lines like, “That’s right / I eat right out the motherfucking pot / Fuck a spoon / I’ve been eating hand to mouth my whole life” (‘72 Virgins’ ft. Big Body) bring some clever respite from all the gutter talk.
Elsewhere, ‘No Time’ with its whimsical sing-song chorus is far and away one of the stand outs on the record, while unfortunately ‘The Rockers’ featuring Wiz Khalifa falls flat on its face. ‘Strictly 4 My Jeeps’ thankfully, picks up things up to an Action Bronson standard.
3/5 stars
BY MARISSA DEMETRIOU
Saab Stories EP is out now through Atlantic Records.
