Hailing from Los Angeles, California The Internet consists of Odd Future members Syd, and Matt Martians. Other members include Steve Lacy, Patrick Paige II, and Christopher Smith. Formed in 2011, this group has released numerous albums such as "Purple Naked Ladies", "Feel Good", "Ego Death", and their latest release "Hive Mind". This album uses a lot of different musical influences from R&B to Soul in order to convey images of chilling out, going out, and having a great time. "Hive Mind" was the first album I had listened to by the group and I was amazed by how smooth and funky their music was.
The album begins with the opening track "Come Together" which fuses an excellent, slow, bass guitar with a light electric guitar and vocal performance. After the chorus "They gon' get us to come together" you can hear a very light flute being played, which adds to the overall vibe of the track. This song got me hooked into the group and album immediately, it was then I realized that there is only one word to define their music, smooth.
The next track "Roll (Burbank Funk)" is one of the more upbeat songs off of this album. This song uses potentially the best bass hook of this year, and the lyrics to this track reflect letting yourself shine above the rest. "Star shine so bright, hear it in your heart." The only part of this track that I didn't enjoy was how abruptly it ended after 3 minutes.
In the third track "Come Over" Syd uses a slow tempo beat in order to convey thoughts of lounging around with your significant other "Puppy love, butterflies, made you blush and made me smile." This is one of the longer tracks on the album, yet it's definitely worth listening to because of how slow and smooth the music is.
"La Di Da" is the fourth track on this album and I really enjoyed the transition into a faster song than the previous slower tracks. My favorite lyric is "I move like the silent G in designer" because it was a comical play on words. My favorite part of this track was the horn instruments that were used toward the end of this song, I felt that it really brought everything together and made it whole. I also thought this track was really danceable because the beat and the groove get you to want to move.
Track five "Stay the Night" is another slow song off this album and I thought it was pretty decent. I enjoyed how smooth the guitar work was, and how well it paired with Syd's voice. However, I felt like the title of the track was repeated too many times throughout the song. This is one of the many tracks on the album that are great to study to.
On the other half of the album there wasn't too much that stuck out to me as a listener. Most of the tracks sounded similar to what the band had already introduced in the first half of the album. The only tracks to really stick out were "Look What U Started" and "Beat Goes On." These two tracks introduced a newer sound to the group, and a deep, fuzzy bass to go along with it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this album due to its smooth nature and funky attitude. Most of the songs are super catchy and will have you moving out of your seat in order to dance along. This received an 8 out of 10 and I would definitely purchase this album on vinyl. Currently this album is being sold on an exclusive variant at Urban Outfitters.