Skateboards 2 Scrapers

Though The Pack’s irresistible underground hit “Vans,” which celebrates the wondrous versatility of the titular skating shoe, bears all of the earmarks of a faddish novelty tune, their debut EP on Zomba records, Skateboards 2 Scrapers, showcases enough raw talent and youthful vitality to belie the flavor of the month hype that has dogged them since “Vans” first hit the airwaves. Skateboards 2 Scrapers features eight solid slabs of jerry-rigged hyphy, all unearthly percussion and buzzing one finger synth lines that balance amateurish enthusiasm against otherworldly grit. Though the beats here don’t knock with the force of Rick Rock’s near avant-garde hyphy freakouts, they remain lean and fierce in all the right places, and provide the perfect sonic backdrop for The Pack’s studied ensemble rapping. The Pack’s four young MC’s spit lyrics that demonstrate both a reverence for the Bay-Area’s rich musical history and an irrepressible urge to innovate redolent of early Hot Boy$ releases. Kris Kross these kids are not.