If the Toxic Crusaders might at first glance seem like nothing more than a Madvillain pastiche then one listen to their self-titled extended play swiftly dispels that illusion. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, the duo of Hash Adams and Araless blend a wobbly riff on nineties boom bap whose lapping vocals are reminiscent of some of the best bands of the era – from hard-hitting Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep to the airy croon of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – with a woozy and sometimes acid-tripped take on the scuzzy experiments of Definitive Jux, the inveterate doomsayer himself and their Seattleite neighbours Shabazz Palaces.
Teaming up for this project with the producer Thad Wenatchee while featuring Heist, the late Knucklehead Banga and MADSHROOM MC, among the highlights are ‘Peaches’ a carbonated critique of flakiness and forced engagement which references Doc Holliday and Julius Caesar, and ‘Dave Niehaus’ named after the late Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer, which opens with a shoutout to Death Cab for Cutie as the duo and Heist trade in a gilded nostalgia, seeking a moment of quietude as they ponder the future and the breadth of a world which seems to loiter just over the horizon.
