Pork Rind Disco

A preview EP for the Chicharones' second full-length album, which was released later in 2005, Pork Rind Disco continues the tongue-in-cheek grooves of the duo's 2003 debut, Boss Hogs. Rappers Josh Martinez and Sleep -- both of whom have ongoing solo careers -- mostly use the Chicharones to exercise their wilder sides in an atmosphere that mixes old school rap and party rap, vintage-sounding samples, and a fondness for porky puns, but Pork Rind Disco also hints at their more serious sides. The title track is the Chicharones at their silliest (it also appears in an electro remix at disc's end), but the other four songs are, somewhat surprisingly, closer to Martinez and Sleep's solo work, hinting in particular at the mellow, jazz-tinged feel of Martinez's recent album Midriff Music. "Can't Find the Time" in particular has this more relaxed vibe, based around a slow and soulful piano figure. Three of the five proper songs also appear in redundant instrumental mixes, but the first half of Pork Rind Disco is solidly entertaining underground rap that balances the silly and the serious surprisingly easily. (A note for collectors: the mixes of "Pork Rind Disco," "Can't Find the Time," "Guys Like Me," and "Red Carpet Treatment" on this EP are not the same as those that appeared on the album a few months later.) ~ Stewart Mason