You can hear a ton of the Misfits influence, but there’s also a poppy style that breaks in that can be easily traced back to the Ramones. And I can hear a ton of Minor Threat in here too.

Like the best punk, Blood Visions feels like it’s stuck in a time machine from the 80s. Which makes it so easy to love for fans of the genre.

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*Chulahoma* is a lesser-known record because, as it turns out, it doesn’t have a single original recording. Each track is a cover of a Junior Kimbrough. Kimbrough himself was a bluesman that The Black Keys called a primary influence at one point. He and The Black Keys shared a label together at one time.

The Black Keys do play these “covers” pretty fast and loose, so while they’re recognizable, they could be considerd homages more than anything. In blues, that feels appropriate: it’s more important to riff off ideas than it is to exactly represent something, and’s what The Black Keys have always been good at. If you’re a fan and you haven’t heard this record, you’ve got no clue what you’re missing.

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I mentioned Xzibit last week, and Classified is ripping him off in so many wonderful ways in Hard To Be Hip Hop. Feeling Fine is just screaming vintage hip hop, complete with a great jazz-influenced lead vocal break that simply tears up the song.

Even when the album is a little more hardcore and taking influence from gangster rap, like with Cheap Talk and Eminem-influenced Put It All In Perspective, Classified is still having a lot of fun. Hip hop is one of those genre’s that should always be fun, but it drowns in in its own seriousness so often that the genre often just loses its appeal. But Classified is just having fun, and when I listen to Hitch Hikin’ Music, so am I.

Every single song on Hitch Hikin’ Music has an awesome beat and a great flow. This is what an underground rapper sounds like when he’s at his prime. The only issue I have with long hip hop records like this is that they’re usually filled with skits or fluff. In Classified’s case, this record doesn’t have either. There is one skit, but it’s also a song. Classified managed to make a skit all about writing a great song, and going through the process. It sounds stupid, but it’s amazing. Give Beatin It a listen. This is good stuff.

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