Dos Atomos, Dos Monos (2024)
The build up to Dos Atomos, between the gloriously fractured and noisy Otomo Yoshihide-featuring lead single ‘Que Gi’ and the justifiably boasted-about tracklist, had me assuming it would be my favourite release of the year. Perhaps all that hype is to be blamed for Dos Atomos being such a let-down. While much is certainly fabulously experimental (particularly on the instrumental side), one gets the sense that Dos Monos think this thing is far more ingenious than it actually is, not grasping that simply rapping over noisy beats doesn’t make you an innovator – one has to innovate in the delivery, too. Dos Atomos has moments where the vocals match the experimentality of the beats, but the trio all too often resort to safe flows indebted heavily to ‘00s rap rock. I can’t understand why they don’t go further, rewarding each – rather than a select few – of these beats with innovative vocals. Why not upend everything, and fashion something truly beyond? Perhaps next time.
Pick: ‘Que Gi’
