Aesop Rock has admitted to bumping heads with the head of his label, El-P, during the production of None Shall Pass, and if you only heard two tracks from the album—“Keep Off the Lawn,” and “Gun for the Whole Family”—you might worry El-P won the fight. Which would be a shame, because Rock’s strengths lie in his congealed poetry, vocal gymnastics and unique baritone—not El-P’s trancy influences and penchant for grand statements.
Fortunately, Rock’s storytelling instincts take center stage on the rest of the album. “You ain’t shit man, your story’s a joke, they should package it with a last smoke and six feet of rope,” he begins on “Fumes,” a meandering, almost-epic track chronicling the descent of a young, self-destructive couple. (It seems that getting married and moving to San Francisco hasn’t chilled Rock out that much.) “Fumes” is produced by longtime collaborator Blockhead, as are the rest of the album’s best songs, including “Coffee” and the bouncy, slightly psychotic title track.
Rock’s dense, conversational rhymes are more digestible than ever here, and he gets great results every time he slows things down. Kind of like a big plate of freshly caught fish, None Shall Pass is simultaneously tasty and nourishing.
Aesop Rock
None Shall Pass
*** 1/2