Black Astronaut Records – The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia

Black Astronaut Records – The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia – Album Review

Jeez…it was like what, only three or four months ago that we reviewed a twenty-five song album from Black Astronaut Records and they’re already back with another ten tracks?  Where they gettin’ all this music from?  Strike while the iron is hot, as they say…dude’s whole studio must be doused in wasabi.  Anyhow…we’ve got The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia in review today, because titles for records are always way too short, and I never do enough typing.  Let’s do this.

With “The Forest Mafia,” you’re essentially plunged right into the kind of music that Charles Luck, the mind behind Black Astronaut Records, genuinely wants to make.  Whether it’s a list of drugs being consumed, tales of sexual conquests, or unique references to a schlong, he’s got ya covered like a jimmy hat.  Not bad here…it’s a good start…I’d probably sink the vocals further into the mix to make the whole song sound bigger by bringing the music up to match it, but I’m always realistic when it comes to what we’re gonna hear from a songwriter’s perspective…as in, obviously the lyricism is Luck’s first priority, and damn the torpedoes, that’s what you’re going to hear the most in the mix, generally speaking.  The real trick is knowing when it would be a struggle on the listening end – and in the case of “The Forest Mafia,” it’s definitely not an issue at all.  There’s plenty of room to be able to play around with the levels more…we have zero trouble hearing every word, which usually is the key indicator that’ll tell you that you’ve got room to bring the music UP so that the entire song makes an impact on ya, not just a piece of it.  Nothing seriously detrimental here though, just an observation…as always, take it or leave it…I’m never gonna be the guy to tell you there’s only one way to get the job done.  The opening bare-bones intro is a fun twist…a bit risky I’d say with its narrator-esque style delivery…it’s not gonna be what most expect, but “The Forest Mafia” shifts gears quickly enough to reveal what we’re really here for.  The devious wordplay of Luck is immediately on display…and I mean, that’s what we paid our quarter for, right?  Bonus points for mentioning “the poors” – has there ever been a better term?  For real, I say it around the house all the time and I do not have the stack to justify it, I assure you.  I AM one of “the poors” yo…but that reference will always be funny to me.  Charles makes a ton of effort to get his rhyme schemes on-point, and the words are always going to be the main star of the show on a BAR album, just like they were on the original The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney way back in 2017.

The vocal level IS a bit of an issue though…and if that wasn’t 100% clear from the opening cut, it will definitely be by the time you reach the second track, “God, The Mob, And The Nuclear Pond.”  Who’s mixin’ this record for ya Mr. Luck?  If it’s you…I’d recommend handing the job off to someone else.  I’m not suggesting you can’t do it – in fact, I know you can – but…the emphasis is so far up on the words at this point that the music plays like it’s a distant afterthought…and you didn’t go through all that trouble creating the beat to have it come in way behind the levels on the vocals, right?  Presumably, the man has put some WORK into what he does…and I dunno…call me crazy, but I think that should be heard!  As I listen to “God, The Mob, And The Nuclear Pond,” my initial thoughts revolved on how muted the music comes through by comparison to the vocals, and how it kind of makes the song less dynamic as it is intended to be, because we’re really hearing a string of words more than any other element.  So don’t get it twisted…I know Luck’s capable of delivering the right kinda mix, but if he’s unable to be objective, likely as a result of wanting these words of his to be heard unequivocally, then like I said, it’s time to hand the job off to someone else that can find the right balance that listeners are looking to listen to, you feel me?  I’d love to say this is the last I’m gonna go into this…but it ain’t, so buckle the fuck up if you gotta get yourself ready for this ride.  Look…I actually really like “God, The Mob, And The Nuclear Pond” – but if you pushed back against that…fuck…I’d understand.  Ultimately we’re listening to something that’s got way more in common with Spoken Word than it does with Rap or Hip-Hop – the lines are complex, but it’s hard to commend the delivery as dropping real bars, you know what I mean?  Props to getting the words out clearly, but by the same token, it sounds a little more flat when it comes to the actual performance…that might just be my take on it, but we need more spark and swagger here.  Right now it feels like I’m being read a story.  A story with kickass words mind you, but a story-like delivery nonetheless…and I’m just not all that convinced that is what the song is really calling out for.  With the lively beat at the core of this cut being so damn good, sharing a bit more of the spotlight with it between the music & vocals will go a long way…but I’d still advise the vocals give it another shot in the booth, because we wanna hear the sound of someone in the grip of the flow, not just reading it all to us.

“The Ongoing Adventures Of IQ32 & C3PBLO” gets the overall balance between the music and vocals a bit closer to where I’d wanna hear BAR aiming at levels-wise…but I’m definitely pushing back on the recording of the vocals (I’ve yet to love it on any of the opening three tracks, but this one is the most noticeably dirty so far…probably effects of some kind) – and you betcha, I am absolutely questioning the quality of the main hooks in the chorus.  Charles…my man…what are we doin’ here brother?  I’m not sure if it’s the entirely awkward tone, or that the part itself is wandering around trying to figure out where its real strengths are…but either way, I’m a little on the shocked side…we can all hear that’s not hitting the mark you need it to be.  If you were to judge by the intro to this track alone, you’d swear that Luck has lost his fuckin’ mind…but I think he’s made a good enough case for us to all know this dude hasn’t just gotten high in his lifetime at different points, but he’s blasted off to a whole different galaxy when he’s choosing to be using.  Someone’s gotta rein him in occasionally, and maybe that’s where I come in – someone’s gotta bring him back down to earth when it’s needed, and I have no problem at all volunteering for that mission.  “The Ongoing Adventures Of IQ32 & C3PBLO” is the kind of song that makes me lose hairs from scratching my head from start to finish as I’m listening, wondering how this track found its way off the cutting room floor.  I’m not disputing that there are pieces here and there that are entertaining…there are…but the mix is saturated, the vocals don’t have the right tone where it’s needed most…it’s just got these kind of glaring issues that seem strange to be overlooked.  As much as I’ve spun my way through this record this past week, I’ve never once felt like I’ve been able to get into this one…the verses are alright and I can hear the skill there, but the rest surrounding it drifts too wide of the mark, in my opinion.  I’m always cheering for BAR, but this track makes it tougher to be able to.

I didn’t know how to take “I’m Henry” if I’m being completely honest with ya.  On the one hand, it’s using the pattern of a classic Eminem track and I’m sure that familiarity will likely have at least some folks diggin’ this cut as a result…but we’re borrowing from a cut that can out before the turn of the millennium…completely and totally.  To the point where it’s simply a matter of different lyrics, but other than that, pretty much the same damn song…a song that’s more than twenty-five years old and still gets just about the same amount of airtime today as it did back then…as in, for myself personally…I mean…I like Eminem as much as the next guy I’m sure, but if this song has been out for 26 years, I’ve been done with it for 25.95 of’em.  I get why it was a breakthrough hit at the time, but even back then it just wasn’t the track that grabbed me…so like…obviously that’s not entirely on Charles Luck or BAR, but to a degree it is if we’re talkin’ about sample choices and such.  Even at the time of writing this review up, out of the ten songs on The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia, it has the third lowest hit count so far…and maybe there’s something to that math based on what I’m saying to ya.  “Hi, I’m aimless…my mind, is brainless…” – like…we’ve kinda gotta admit that that’s still basically what Em was saying too, you see what I mean?  “I’m Henry” is kickin’ an old can trying to get the last bean out of it, but this whole thang has been licked clean long ago by this point.  “I give needles diseases” is a quality line though…I like that.  It’s not enough to save this one for me personally, but like just about anything you’ll ever listen to from Black Astronaut Records, there’s always something lyrically interesting to hear.

“ABC” has the overall volume down a couple notches from where the record has started, but even when considering that, I’d probably tell you this is still a more balanced track overall.  I like the brightness in the music a lot, I love the vocal samples that occasionally run through the background, and the lead itself is pretty strong too.  I dunno…”ABC” just has this kind of upbeat and welcoming energy to it that seems to make sense, and I feel like the shift from the verse to chorus really has that spark when the beat kicks in.  We could probably split hairs about whether or not BAR has gotten the absolute maximum potential outta the vocals, but I’m not hearing anything I’d object to too much…it’s one of those playful style of performances that ain’t afraid to occasionally color just outside the lines a lil’ bit – but hey man, I’d way rather have that these days than some overly-corrected AI bullshit that sounds suspiciously perfect.  “If I didn’t do drugs, this hook would be better,” is an admission you’ll hear in “ABC” – and I’m like, not so fucking fast my friend…don’t go besmirching the good name of drugs just because we’ve got another potentially questionable melody goin’ on here.  I’d challenge Luck to say that if he didn’t do drugs, more than half of these songs wouldn’t exist at all, let alone possibly be better than they are.  So give it up one time for drugs y’all…they make things happen, and I’m not letting anyone shit talk them whilst I’m around!  All jokes aside, I’m actually fine with the hooks of this song if you wanna know the truth.  I can hear that some listeners (and apparently the vocalist/lyricist) might feel like the hook coulda been better than it was, but I dunno…it’s got that like…Chance The Rapper, still good without really tryin’ to be good type of sound, so I guess I felt like I was cool with it.  That being said, the vast majority of listeners out there tend to respond to music and artists their ears are telling them that those behind it all are giving everything 100%…and it really might be best to not take that for granted.  Just a thought.

Charles.  Dude.  Am I the crazy one?  Listen to “I’m Henry,” then listen to “ABC,” and then stick around for “Under My Eyelids” – it’s “ABC” that’s gotta come up when you listen to the volumes on each track, and fuck, it deserves it…that’s a great tune on this album.  “Under My Eyelids” though, does something even weirder…it starts out way loud…probably the loudest since “God, The Mob, And The Nuclear Pond” – and then somehow it all starts to fade back to a lower volume?  I don’t think that’s the direction you want this to head my friend…pull up Goose, pull up!  I do like the theme and main metaphor of what life is like “Under My Eyelids” and how much more ideal that can be than all the crap we experience when our eyes are open.  The performance itself seems really strong across the board…like the vocals, like the music…all it needs is a savage remix…listen to how things dial back severely between the fifteen second mark and fifteen seconds later – it’s like we’re all slipping into a K-hole while we’re listening, and I’m relatively sure that I’m all out of ketamine at the moment.  Other than that though…I’d put “Under My Eyelids” up there with the strongest performances on the record, and it also feels like a refreshingly unique track as well.  Eventually you’ll get to focus on the lyricism, which has just about everything under the sun spillin’ forth outta Luck’s nuts at some point…even cheese, which is like…well…I mean, maybe if you’re not lactose intolerant, then maybe it’s not gross?  Maybe?  Don’t get me wrong, I love cheese…until it’s being used in a descriptive type of way, then I’m out, 100% of the time.  Don’t need no cheesy feet, don’t want no cheesy ears, and I’m sorry to say, but Mr. Luck, I don’t want no cheesy spunk neither…though I fully acknowledge that might just be how I personally feel.  Lyrically, he’s an undeniable wordsmith from an outsider’s perspective, but believe me when I tell ya, he’s got no problem acknowledging that himself, as he’ll tell ya on “Under My Eyelids” when you hear the line “I write better than anyone ever.”  Humbleness has been chasing Charles Luck, but he’s always been faster.

Lol…Charles…c’mon man.  When we’re not being entirely objective and we don’t have enough separation between the material and the moment that it’s being created, you end up with what’s called “studio ears” – it’s a notorious problem that has been around longer than either of us have been.  But if you’re telling me the explosive difference in volume on “The Climb” isn’t problematic, then my friend, I’ve got nothing left to say when it comes to the consistency in the production & such.  If you’re not hearing the DRAMATIC difference between “The Climb” and just about every other cut in the set, then feel free to ignore everything and anything else I have to say about recording levels.  I know it seems like a small issue, but it has a large impact on the durability/listenability of an album…literally no one out there wants to be reaching for the volume knob to turn it up or down from track to track as they listen to a record.  My main issue is that it’s a damn easy fix, but it does require a set of ears outside of your own to take a listen and be objective about what it is they’re actually hearing.  I know, I know, I know – just tell us the good things Jer @ SBS…well…I will if you just get to the chorus next time I come out to your shows, but you don’t wanna do that, and neither do I.  We’ve got a responsibility to help each other level up, and sometimes that means saying the shit no one wants to hear so that we can evolve and get better in whatever it is that we do.  The song itself…could be good?  I think this needs a full-on overhaul mix-wise, but maybe that’s just the way that I’m hearing it.  Tino Red, a longtime collaborator of Luck’s that’s spit the man’s words from the mic many a time does well with his moment here, but the mix is stifling his talent.  Hell, it’s practically anxiety-inducing, you feel me?  This is a seriously busy mix Mr. Luck…and I’m not entirely convinced that it’s getting the best outta the material all said and done.

“The Mafia Hates You” is up there with the best of the best on the record, if it’s not just the album’s best track overall already.  The energy is killer, the confidence on display in the vocals is a supremely slick fit…definitely another one of my favorite performances to be found on The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia – and the sample from the Beatles seemed to work out really well mixed in like it is.  It is one of those hot-button issues that a lot of the old heads have trouble wrapping their minds around, but yes, it’s acceptable to use the Beatles as a sample, and especially when things come out as strong as they do here on “The Mafia Hates You.”  I’ve had a lot to say about this or that throughout the course of reviewing this album, like I do with any I’m tasked to listen to on an objectively critical level…but yeah…it’s very nice to occasionally put my feet up, relax, and listen to a bulletproof track like this one here.  Would I be looking at this as the blueprint forward if I was Charles?  To an extent, sure.  Lyrically, the guy is always aces…whether you love what he has to say thematically or not is beyond the point – the dude can string syllables together in ways that most will never be able to…it’s the consistent strength, along with the nasty doses of humor he brings to his rhymes.  Musically, I don’t need a Beatles sample to “make it better,” despite what the greys on my face would have you believing…I just want something that has the juice to get us excited and want to repeat the experience, and a mix that represents it all as best it can.  We’ve gone back & forth about a lot of these tracks on The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia about what works and what doesn’t work as well…but in the case of this particular track, I don’t think anything could have been done better than what we hear in the final results.  I think of all things, hearing the rap come out so confident and relentlessly spirited, like the dude knows the words forwards and backwards, makes all the difference.

At this point in time, I tell ya, it doesn’t even phase me anymore how quickly Charles Luck can work in a dick or fart joke into his music.  When you’re first discovering BAR, it’s a freakin’ riot, because the shock factor is so completely outta left field…but if you’ve been listening for as long as I have, you know the guy is only competing against himself at this point – you know the dick references are coming soon enough, and I think it’s just a matter of if he can get’em in there faster than he did the song before at this point.  He’s conquered the mountain of penises…or penising…I don’t know how you’d phrase it, but if he can put a dick in it, he will, each and every time.  Now…because I’m completely immature, I’m not gonna deny that it still usually brings a smile to my face.  Is something like “We Ill” Feat. Henry The Hippo going to be for everyone?  Hell no!  But music rarely is to begin with.  Yes it’s true that the level of pure vulgarity that Luck is willing to include pigeonholes the amount of space he can occupy with his music and potential audience even further – that’s obvious – but it’s so obvious that you know he’s had to have considered the math on that already and he’s just fine making music for those that get it.  Was I worried about this track from the moment it started and I heard the tone of the vocals we were about to be in-store for?  100%!  “I’ll say anything that sounds cool,” where it sounds like I should spell it kewl and then compliment the song by saying “cool beans” – it’s frightening, truly.  But it’s also genuinely performative and intentional…so…I mean…I gotta call it like I hear it – it’s well done, it’s just not the tone I probably would have gone with personally is all.  He’s put his penis in a microwave here…he’s had it sucked on by his niece…he’s collected STDs…so like…if you’re looking for something to jam in church this likely ain’t gonna be the go-to soundtrack.  Who the fuck is Henry The Hippo anyhow, and how on earth, in this lineup of fully capable rappers representing Luck’s words, is Henry the only one that gets proper credit?  Charles!  Dammit man, this whole community thing doesn’t thrive like it should if we’re not giving people the credit they deserve…and generally speaking, that’s how you get’em to come back time and time again if you need’em in the future too brother-man…just sayin.’  Anyhow…”We Ill” ends up having enough entertainment value to keep me engaged…I might have questioned it at first but was okay by the end.  I’m always amused by what Luck has to say and/or WHY he would want to say all that he does, and that curiosity seems to continually fuel my interest in all-things Black Astronaut Records.

“Top Dog” finishes off The Walrus, The Ninja, And The Gypsy From Sydney 2: The Forest Mafia in style.  The longest track in the set by a country mile, “Top Dog” weighs in a 7:37 in length, and roughly 400lbs.  It’s a great example of how you really can’t take ANYTHING too seriously when it comes to BAR – don’t be like me folks, it’s not an interesting way to be and I wouldn’t recommend being overly critical when it comes to anything you do in life like I do with these reviews I write.  What can I say, I’m a passionate dude that just wants to taunt and tease and spark the inspiration outta the artists and bands I listen to – that’s all it ever is.  I might appear critical, but it’s always an effort to find the right way to encourage someone to find a way to get to their best.  Charles ain’t gonna listen to me if I just tell him everything is good, and he’s not gonna pay attention if I’m just being polite either – I gotta tell him in terms he’d understand, like “Top Dog” FUCKS BUTT YO!  Then he knows I’m being real with him, and that I actually really dig what I’m listening to.  Which in the case of this particular track, I definitely do – it’s a wicked finale where everything seems to come together in the right way.  It’s weird and it’s wacky by design, and it’s equally wonderful at the same time…the music is absolutely killer, and the words are as solid & steady & raunchy as ever too.  As far as the rap overtop goes…good lord was I worried at the start – but as the dude shifts from that narration-based Spoken Word to really giving it the business and hitting the bars with intent, things get so much better, and quickly.  Even the main hook of “Top Dog,” which is purposely off-kilter and meant to be as strange as it is, works brilliantly – because it’s being done with supreme confidence…and that right there y’all, is always the magic ingredient that makes the difference.  What ALSO matters, is that the captain of the ship, Mr. Charles Luck, is focused AF on this last cut as well – so EVERYTHING SOUNDS AS FUCKING FANTASTIC AS IT’S SUPPOSED TO, FINALLY.  Save for one quick sample that comes through a bit imposing around the 5:30 mark…and perhaps having a human barking along the way (which…I mean…it fits yeah, but it’s still WEIRD y’all…this a grown-ass man doin’ that) – this all worked out incredibly well, and ended up being a serious contender for the record’s best track.  That’s the way to end it off, take notes.  Listeners might object to this or that along the way, but if you can finish things off on some of your strongest material, there’s a good chance that’s what many will end up remembering as they push repeat.  I’ve got massively high standards for Black Astronaut Records, so feel free to take everything I’ve said with a grain of salt.  I still think there’s more potential in this project than we might have ever actually experienced in the final results at any point in BAR’s career – but as far as I can tell, Luck never runs outta drugs ideas, so that real greatness is still well within his reach for the future ahead.

Find out more about Black Astronaut Records here at this multi-link:  https://linktr.ee/CharlesLuck

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