Armed to the Teeth

Audio Mixer: Roger Swan.
Photographer: Fabrice Hensenns.
Like Lil Wayne, Vancouver's Swollen Members (Mad Child, Prevail, and Rob the Viking) know how to deftly scale the tightrope between the silly sexual lunacy of Luke and the wry wordsmithery of underground rappers such as Pharoahe Monch or Talib Kweli. The trio's 2009 offering, ARMED TO THE TEETH, zigs and zags from literate puffery to strip club insanity, as likely to casually toss in an obscure reference to '80s kid show THE GREAT SPACE COASTER as throw down a Wu-Tang-esque line like "raised by wolves, trained by gorillas." It's the versatility of Cypress Hill, minus the overwhelming cannibis haze, which makes the record a constant ear-opener.