The album starts with the jolting sound of glass being shattered, hence awakening lead vocalist MC Ride. Ride responds confused but full of energy, as if he came to the realization that he had overslept on the day of his finals. As with all music of the sort, he blurs the line between technical rapping and the shrieking of an enraged mental asylum patient. As one would expect with Death Grips, you aren't going to expect the initial sounds. Government Plates fires in a new direction, but the one constant is the MC Ride makes use of his time behind the mic, creating an overwhelming sense of paranoia while the other two provide the groundwork for you to imagine what is causing the discomfort. Is the entire record a not-so subliminal jab at their former label? Not sure, but a song title like "Bootleg (Don't Need Your Help)" among others certainly supports the argument.
That could be the case, but you really have to listen well and dive into the lyrics in order to find out where Death Grips is in 2013. The blatant abrasiveness (can't write a Death Grips review without using that word at least once) and overall feeling of darkness, it's easy to assume they're presenting nihilistic messages about killing people. Again, that very well may be the case, but MC Ride is criminally underrated as a lyricists. I'm not trying to say he spits with the vivid imagery of a Kool G. Rap, but to assume that he's just a maniac shouting nonsense is incredibly naive. On Government Plates, Ride makes references towards his L.A. roots ("Big House"), offers some social commentary, and of course subliminally addresses Epic. It's unlikely that Death Grips would ever officially release their lyrics; that will come as a problem for those trying to decipher his slurred bars, which can easily be incorrectly translated. It's really up to the listener to make up what they can with the given materials. Ride's lyrics are as deep as your imagination lets them be.
On the same note, it's not acceptable to place labels on Death Grips. There message can be taken in countless way, which is part of the appeal for many fans, but to call this record one definite thing is an injustice to the group. I doubt anyone is claiming this to be a modern masterpiece of political criticism, but I've seen more than one article calling this a direct response to Kanye West's Yeezus, a record widely speculated to have been influenced by Death Grips. Sure, an argument can be made, but any of these guys caring that much about another human being is preposterous to me. If we've learned anything in the past year, it's that Death Grips does not care about other people, or appealing to their musical preferences. Government Plates has received critical acclaim and fan support, but that wasn't the purpose of the album. It serves only to cater to the needs of the three artist. This is their way of dealing with the controversy.
The album isn't like their last, or any of their previous released. Instead of increasing the volume and intensity, they opt to advance their music in a different manner. Aside from the newly equipped electronic influences, the absence of MC Ride is impossible to ignore. Half the tracks are relatively short instrumentals with Ride only popping up for the occasional ad-lib. Those can easily be found on the backside of the album, but the first side is a completely different story. The album kicks off with one of the better songs you'll find in their entire discography, "You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat”. That's actually the name of the song. For lack of a better way of putting it, the track is Death Grips intensified take on Dub-Step. Immediately following is "Anne Bonny", a track that only ups the ante, as Ride screams "fuck, kill, steal shit!" over Zach Hill's deafening drums. The track then oddly switches gears to a synth filled instrumental that wouldn't feel out of place on the opening act of The Money Store. Ride impressively adapts with ease, making the track one of the best on the album.
That's only scratching the surface of their new ideas, though. Whereas NO LOVE DEEP WEB was the epitome of relentless violence and unadulterated paranoia, Government Plates actually manages to surprise with a few...dance tracks? Plenty of variables still keep the music from being accessible, but it's not the hardest thing in the world to imagine "Big House" or the title tracks being played at a club. Oddly enough, instrumentals aside, some tracks point to this as being their most authentic hip hop album to date. It's not in a Nas or Rakim type of way, but rather in the B-Boy boasting that dominated the early to mid eighties. Tracks like "Im Overflow" especially abandon an overload of lyrics in an attempt to revive the pure spirit of emotional boasting that first started the genre.
Government Plates isn't perfect, though, and the potential shown makes the album's flaws all the more frustrating. If the record would have built off, or even plateaued, of the first three tracks, it's the best album of 2013, no questions asked. The peaks of this album rival any of their other releases, but it's the short instrumental tracks the restrain Government Plates. It's not so much the lack of vocals that are the problem, Zach Hill's drumming direct the program along just fine, but rather the repetition of these shorter tracks. Take for example "Feels Like A Wheel". It's another song I could see in a party atmosphere, as Death Grips use of HI-NRG drum and base make for one of the most interesting sounds on the album. It's more or less an opposite reflection of one of their more in-your-face tracks, such as "NO LOVE". That's great, but instead of building on the sound or throwing in a hook, they seemingly just copy and paste the first half twice. This is unfortunately a common trend that lingers onto several of the tracks on the albums backside. Kind of a bummer.
Still, if there is one track that shows no sign of creative writer's block, it's "Birds", the album's lead single. With each release, the overall intensity was arguably raised. It sounds crazy to say, but there became a growing sense of predictability of Death Grips. With their "new" sound, they answered this criticism in a myriad of ways. The track opens with a noise heavy kick in the face with Ride screaming into your ear. It's a sound listeners have become accustomed to, but without a moments notice, the music ceases as Ride clearly articulates two words: "fuck you". This follows with some of the most beautifully played guitar strings you'll hear on a hip hop album all year. Damn, Death Grips might have a sense of humor too. In a similar fashion to Eminem's "Love Game", the groups answers their criticism of "predictability" with a track equivalent to a nursery rhyme. They got all of us.
Like every Death Grips release, you won't hear an album that sounds like this all year. Government Plates may be more complex than their previous releases, but it's goal is not to preach a lesson. The music is still crazy and the group is doing whatever they want. They often come off as spoiled, which, again, is very true. Their sole mission may be to upset the people trying to help them, but at the end of the day, they're still making music. The album sounds like a creative mess upon first listen, but so does all things Death Grips. Above all else, the music evokes emotion. It may not be as instantaneous as the rest of their catalog, but it's there. A full understanding of Government Plates requires multiple listens, but with each spin, the puzzle begins to unravel.
Rating: 4/5