MUSIC REVIEWS
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
David Allun Jones
With names that take after cartoon and comic book characters, it’s safe to say that indie hip hop heroes Danger Mouse and MF Doom share an appreciation for animation. So with that in mind, it’s not all that surprising that their debut joint album, The Mouse and The Mask, finds the duo (aptly named Danger Doom) teaming up with characters of the cartoons-for-adults universe of “Adult Swim”. Such an odd collaboration yields a surprisingly solid and imaginative album though for those not in the loop of “Adult Swim”, it’s an album that may be filled with too many “inside jokes” to fully be appreciated or even understood.
Since his appearance on the 3rd Bass classic “The Gas Face”, MF Doom (whose almost been through as many monikers as Ol’ Dirty Bastard) has won over a dedicated underground fan base over the years thanks to his supreme, abstract rhymes and attention-grabbing one-liners, all the while slowly gaining more recognition in the mainstream. DJ Danger Mouse has also seen his stock rise dramatically, following his breakthrough work on the The Grey Album alongside production credits on the Gorillaz’ global-wide hit Demon Days. Two forces of such caliber coming together is like the ultimate wet dream for an indie music fan, and with The Mouse and The Mask, those fans won’t be disappointed.
Danger Mouse’s absurdly outstanding productions help realize the cartoon concept with loopy beats that wouldn’t sound out of place on such 70’s fare as “Scooby Doo” or “Fat Albert”. They provide an ample playpen of sorts for Doom’s off-the-wall lyrics, a steady stream of imaginative stories as dense as the music he’s rhyming over. The masked rapper runs off on tangents with ease, sounding as if he’s flowing off the top of head (he rarely makes much sense); but the bizarre-universe he creates is all part of his eccentricity, a delightful ride to endure if you open of your mind a bit and allow yourself to enjoy something that ultimately carries little meaning. Cameos from “Adult Swim” characters like Space Ghost, Harvey Birdman or the Aqua Teen Hunger Force pop up now and then for occasional witty banter in an attempt to tie everything all together, but to the uninitiated it’s confusing and unnecessary, especially since the formula relies on some background knowledge of the “AS” lineup to truly be effective.
The fact that Danger Doom are easier to appreciate in-the-moment also doesn’t help in their universal appeal. None of the songs carry much of a lasting appeal and within seconds of the album’s conclusion, you can barely remember details of the experience you just had. Appearances from Cee Lo, Talib Kweli and Ghostface Killah help the album out a bit thanks to their easily identifiable styles, but that’s barely enough to sustain the interest of most.
Best if taken with more than one dose, further listening and some “AS” tuning-in will better define the album’s somewhat cloudy purpose and clue you in to some of the winning Doom one-liners you may have missed before; but odds are if you don’t have the patience to try to understand something that carries little signs of radio appeal or catchy hooks, a better decision would be to pass this up for something a little more accessible. As for the real fans, The Mouse and The Mask’s novelty doesn’t qualify it as an essential buy, but it’s a nice little addition to the collection to get at least get a good chuckle from.
