Delorean in the Sacramento News & Review
Rap to the future: Neighborhood Watch co-founder and emcee 5th Ave and local producer Jon Reyes are Delorean, whose eight-song release, No More Heroes, takes local hip-hop back to the basics: smart raps, catchy hooks, chill harmonies, addictive bass, rich synths—all a welcome reprieve from the hyperfast BPM, aggro-snare, bouncy-lows trends of mainstream rap.
Beats don’t have to bump at 88 damned miles per hour all the time, remember?
No More Heroes is proof: six unique tracks by Reyes and 5th bookended by spoken-word songs featuring lyricist D. Scott. The opener, “No More Heroes,” feels like an overture to a French New Wave film.
On “Look Alice,” a funky, psychedelic but straightforward rap track, 5th alternates with a female-chanted chorus of “How deep does the rabbit hole go?” and complex production that beckons a beguiling wonderland. And on “Needy Girl,” 5th raps, “She’s a needy girl / And I can’t stand needy girls,” to a slick, Billy Ocean-sounding rhythm, including an unexpected outro riffage of keys and a decayed funk bass. “Chillin’” features a cowbell backbeat that’s arguably the only nonannoying use of a cowbell in the past 10 years. And “Dear Langston,” which opens with live applause and a jazzy snare kit/synth strings arrangement, has 5th rapping, “Ask me what I’m writing for / It’s simple: just to give some hope,” a soulful ode to friendship, family and community.
No More Heroes is one of the more listenable, exciting and appealing local releases so far this year. And Delorean will be gigging all weekend: Tex Wasabi’s on Friday, August 7, at 10 p.m.; United State on Second Saturday, August 8, at 6 p.m.; The Press Club next Wednesday, August 12, at 9 p.m. (Nick Miller)
