Loaded

The compelling -- or repelling -- thing about Mickey Avalon is that he truly sounds like a rapping junkie, something anyone who has loaned and lost a couple hundred dollars to their long-lost "friends" will recognize. There's that half-tempo "Ratso" Rizzo snarl that comes after a hard life, and that destructiveness that the clamped-down set can only dream about, because "So where do you go when your soul is rotten/I'm gonna get high till I hit rock bottom" ("Rock Bottom") is no way to live, but it is thrilling the way former prostitute Avalon frames it. Gutter hip-hop beats (the tipsy grinder "Girlfriend") and rap-rock grinders ("Dance" with Cisco Adler) mix with laptop imitations of expensive electro (the autobiographical "Electric Gigolo") and alt-rock ("California Crack Cocaine" has that Sublime vibe), while the rapper walks hunched through it all, throwing out funny yet depressing punch lines that prove that when it comes to the underbelly of city life, Avalon is an insider, partying like Kant never happened. In this atmosphere (dark, dank, and dangerous with the smell of butane in the air), key track "Funeral" with Andre Legacy sounds absolutely triumphant, and while the track list looks awfully cumbersome at 18 cuts, there are many avenues to explore on your way to the bad life, and this rapper's seen most. "Party in My Pants" might be a tad obvious, and Avalon himself might be a tad old for this, but Lou Reed said he titled that last Velvet Underground album that way because it was "Loaded with hits." Avalon's version is loaded with hits, scores, rips, joneses, poppers, peaks, and tricks, so get sick for a minute or be sensible and stay safely at home. ~ David Jeffries