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After a self-imposed exile of two-years, Goldie Lookin Chain, the Welsh rappers with crew of affiliates and associates large enough in numbers to give Wu-Tang Clan a run for their money are back with ‘ASBO4Life’ an album of groundbreaking genre defying innovation. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything, but it’s almost reassuring to know that despite an ever-changing political landscape, the GLC haven’t felt obliged to stray from championing the tracksuit clad Cymru dream.
Just like dining out at McDonalds, there are no shock surprises, the quality doesn’t disappoint and the short-lived satisfaction far outweighs the guilt of adding to the arches gold. The chain knows that any deviation from a time-honoured menu just wouldn’t work and use their established satirical vernacular alongside a vocabulary that’s 'safe as fuck' to unsurprisingly parody the mentality of small town chav-culture, as well as the healthy appetite for quick fix sex and recreational drugs that go with it.
Rather than prolong a predictable routine of synonymous humour aimed at and about anyone that’s had to decide between Nuts or Zoo magazine, the boy racer narrative is sustained (only just) beyond the stock appeal of ‘Disguise’, ‘Space Robot’ and ‘Rollin’ through classic GLC observations that offset the lure of the iGeneration. Sparked by ‘Everybody Is A DJ’, ‘3D’ delights in the glory days of tape-to-tape technology, ‘Strobe Lights’ in the memories of Dreamscape and cheap housing estate narcotics, ‘Welcome To Germany’ mocks the euphoria of early 90’s techno through mimicry and ‘New Day’ builds on the foundations of All Saints’ ‘Never Ever’.
Panned by critics as mediocre and novelty, but enjoyed by those who can see past the stale bong water, Goldie Lookin Chain are more than a bunch of piss-takers keeping the JSA at bay with yet another album. Indeed, they lead by example when reflecting the hilarity of an infectious societal lethargy through ‘By Any Means Necessary’, ‘Apathy’ and ‘Unemployed And Overdrawn’. Thankfully they only take themselves as seriously as is required, as any more or any less could result in being laughed out of their South Welsh ghetto faster than you can say Robert Matthew Van Winkle.
