Details
Track Listing
1. Mic Tester
2. Better Already
3. Oooh Girl
4. Mother May I? - (with Chuck Brody)
5. Away Away
6. Good Distance
7. Iluvitwhenya
8. Sucka Mofo
9. Cold War
10. Run Off the Road
11. Things I'll Do
12. Cowboy Man
13. Three Amigas, The - (with Mr. Murray Hill)
14. Fall Apart - (with Kaki King/Nachos)
Album Notes
Northern State: Spero (guitar, keyboards); Hesta Prynn (keyboards); Sprout (bass guitar).
Personnel: Justin Thompson (guitar); Dan Lipton (Wurlitzer piano); Johnny Rodeo (sound effects).
Additional personnel: Mr. Murray Hill (spoken vocals); Chuck Brody (various instruments, drum programming); Chris Feinstein, Katie Cassidy (guitar); Kaki King (lap steel guitar); Steve Halpern (keyboard, bass guitar, drum programming); Seth H. Johnson (drums); Nik At Nite (programming, scratches); Adrock (programming); Nachos.
There's no question that Hesta Prynn, Sprout, and Spero have lifted a lot from the Beastie Boys--from their infectious, 2-bar, back-and-forth vocals down to the content of their charismatic, quick-rhyme musings ("I'm Hesta Prynn/Let me begin/I like my coffee with lots of gin"). On their third official release, CAN I KEEP THIS PEN?, the trio continue in the same vein, peppering their old-school, tag-team rhyme cadence with clever pop-culture metaphors and coffee-shop intellectual references. The girls also wander into alt-rock territory on a few guitar-driven dirges ("Better Already," "Away, Away," "Run Off the Road"). CAN I KEEP THIS PEN? features production work from Chuck Brody of Shitake Monkey and Adrock himself.
Industry Reviews
3 stars out of 5 -- MCs Hesta Prynn, Spero, and Sprout morph into an electro-rock trio on the jump-along 'Better Already'...
3.5 stars out of 5 -- [They] explore everything from point-shoed new wave to soft-flutter electro-rock....Like PAUL's BOUTIQUE, the results are as unexpected as they are lethal.
4 stars out of 5 -- [P]unchy electro-rock....Best of all are the lyrics, with fragments of nursery rhymes, playground chants, witty wordplay and light-hearted braggadocio...
[They] branch out with moody ballads and frisky new-wave anthems. It's an audacious leap forward... -- Grade: A-
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