Odd Future - The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2

Despite all the hype and build-up, Odd Future's first official release got the reaction it deserved. An average record from the leader of the collectivel, Tyler the Creator's Goblin was remarkably dull for a group known for their shock-value antics and lyrics. Despite selling quite well and being praised by some critics, it succeeded mostly in taking some of the momentum from Odd Future. Music by various members is still being released regularly, and they even have their own Jackass-style TV show now, but the buzz has definitely diminished.

So it's up to this mixtape, featuring every single member of the group, to remind the public of their strengths and hopefully provide some evidence of progression. They did release a lot of good music before Goblin so there's still reason for excitement, especially given the return of Earl Sweatshirt - the only genuinely rapper of the group and the one behind their best record, Earl - and the fact that the production tends to be of a good standard. It turns out that, like Goblin, the production is really the main thing to recommend the tape. Often abrasive and sometimes still cheap-sounding, it still works very well on songs like 'Rella' and 'Snow White'. Left-Brain can be a great producer, and Tyler is clearly getting more adept at creating beats. Additionally, there's still a fair amount of childish humour on the record but the shock-humour is clearly wearing as thin on the band as it is on its audience, and there doesn't appear to be any references to rape at all on the record, unless there's some very subtle euphemisms that I missed. Well done boys!

The problem with the mixtape though, and it's quite fundamental for a rap mixtape, is the dearth of decent rapping on show. When the production works, like on 'Rella', it's easy to forget that there are three verses over it, none of which contain anything memorable whatsoever. There are two rappers who are supposed to be terrible - Taco and Jasper - but at least they're entertaining in their fleeting moments. Tyler is not as irritatingly self-absorbed as he was on Goblin but he's still not a particularly good rapper and his flow is often all over the place. Others such as Hodgy Beats and Domo Gensis, who are all over the record, are too mediocre to carry songs even though that's what they're asked to do here. Earl only makes one appearance on the decent closer 'Oldie', but it would need a whole lot more of him to salvage an album which suffers, just as Goblin did, for having too little to say and having too long to say it in.

Frank Ocean's appearances are good, although where he fits in to the group is becoming increasingly confusing, and it's nice to see Syd singing and producing as 'The Internet', as opposed to being the group's shield when called out on their homophobic lyrics ('our DJ is gay, so it must be fine!'). But it's still a pretty average mixtape with the occasional snippets of brilliant production and the more-than-occasional snippets of very bland rapping. Time is on the group's side, with all of them still very young with an already impressive body-of-work, but they still have a fair bit to do before they justify the hype that they originally generated.