The Quilt is as good a name as any for Gym Class Heroes' post-hip-hop pop collage, as they weave together discarded strands of junk culture into something new yet naggingly familiar. More than most of their peers, they embody all the glorious and maddening contradictions of their generation. Raised in the heyday of hip-hop while steeped in the irony of '90s alt-rock, persistent nostalgia for '70s kitsch, and '80s new wave, Gym Class Heroes see no borders between any era or style, mixing and matching the parts to create funky Frankensteins that feel as pop as they do rap. On The Quilt, Travis McCoy and crew attempt to amp up the urban and hip-hop just a bit, working with Cool & Dre -- producers with the Game and Lil Wayne to their credit -- and having Rihanna associate the Dream in for the single "Cookie Jar," but they do all this without abandoning longtime running-partner Fall Out Boy Patrick Stump, or their love of syrupy soft rock hooks, a love that manifests in a duet with Daryl Hall, and choruses that feel borrowed from Ben Folds, or maybe Jack's Mannequin. All this stylistic hopscotch winds up unwittingly emphasizing just how much Gym Class Heroes are indebted to OutKast's -- or perhaps more specifically André 3000 -- genre-bending, as the best moments here float on the same kind of giddy, infectious choruses that fueled "Roses." That Gym Class Heroes get a little lax on their verses points out that they're better in broad strokes than details, just like how they deliver clever concepts that call out for a bit more wit than McCoy manages to muster. And that's also how Gym Class Heroes' Quilt is very, very much of its time: it skates by on the surface, which is appealing for a while, but in large doses it can seem like too much empty style.
Note from Deez: Because I've been so busy the past few, I needed someone to help pick up the slack. I present you with the very credible, Miss eA. She's a very talented writer and is about her business. She'll be doing a few writings for me here and there when I need some time [...]
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Note from Deez: Because I've been so busy the past few, I needed someone to help pick up the slack. I present you with the very credible, Miss eA. She's a very talented writer and is about her business. She'll be doing a few writings for me here and there when I need some time [...]
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Gym Class Heroes are performing on Jay Leno right now, so it got me on Youtube looking for some live GCH. Here's a cool live version of their new hit "Cookie Jar", mostly acoustic. The song is pretty corny as far as lyrics go, but I don't care. I dig the Gym Class Heroes and I love hip-hop incorporating instrumentalization. Plus Travis McCoy seems like a cool dude. PigeonsandPlanes
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I'm glad they're making a comeback, it's been a while. This is the new video from Travis & Co. off their latest album, the Quilt. Not the best video, but more like a video for a performance; but hey, I guess you gotta save money somehow — we're still in a recession. lol
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So I wasn't lying about posting anything Estelle or Estelle related…even if it's a Gym Class Heroes Video. As much as it pains me to admit, I quite fancy their songs. And this one is, at the very least, moderately awesome by Estelle default. The mostly Patrick Stump (moderately awesome by Roots default) produced album, [...]
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Here's the visual for the Gym Class Heroes cut titled "Live A Little". Off of their *The Quilt* LP!Pigeons and Planes
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjM6z1hrA8w] New video from Travis & Co. Off their latest album The Quilt.
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 "The Quilt")
