Weerd Science - Friends and Nervous Breakdowns
By Mark Hensch

Upon hearing that Josh Eppard, the drummer of a favorite act of mine, Coheed & Cambria, was creating a side-project called Weerd Science, I had to check it out. I was even more eager to hear the album, Friends and Nervous Breakdowns, when I heard it was going to be a hip-hop record. Now totally intrigued, the thought of Josh laying down rhymes over beats had me somewhat excited to review something a little different for me: the hip-hop album.

Despite my excitement and the fact it was something a little abnormal for me to listen to, Friends ended up falling down the stairs and flat on its face. The tunes spun here by Weerd Science are both annoying and compelling; annoying when it sinks into mired convention with repetitive beats that you could find on any hip-hop album, useless profanity, and most importantly of all, the tired hip-hop idea of self-absorbtion. On the good side, Weerd Science has some interesting samples for every single boring beat; subject matters like politics, paranoia, the working class, and poverty, all get time in the sun, and there is the tiny fact that Eppard is a surprisingly adept rapper.

Despite all this, the positives are mobbed and overcome by the many negatives. The weird beats of songs like "In a City with No Name" (palm-muted goodness?), "Conspiracy Theories w/ out Mel Gibson" (Tripped Out hop?) and "*uck you and your filthy A&R Department" (warp-speed hop?) are displaced by the self-possessed whining of tracks like "Ordinary Joe (WCH)" or "Blueprint." At times the lyrics border on rapped emo hysterics, and combining emo and hip-hop sucks as much as you might think in real life like it appears to on paper. Most interesting is how little seriousness Weerd Science treats itself with. Songs like "Girl, your Baby's Worm Food" or "God Bless Pepsi" may be firmly tongue-in-cheek, or fully serious in their subject matter. Regardless, I highly doubt that even the most devoted hip-hoppers will be blaring hip-hop odes to cola or songs with refrains of "Girl, if you're knocked up by my homey, I'm gonna punch you in the stomach" anytime soon. I also doubt hip-hoppers will even accurately appreciate the surprisingly clever dual-voiced conversations of a tune like "Blueprint." It also is doubtful non-rap fans will appreciate a largely mixed bag of clever ideas and tired stereotypes; Weerd Science is as likely to rap about guns and cities and bitchy chicks as opposed to government conspiracies, the power of family, and overcoming childhood despair.

Regardless of everything, this vanity project runs the thin line between novelty and legitimacy. I really am not sure how to place this CD, I have a feeling more albums are needed to see how an act like Weerd Science paints its own legacy. Right now the picture is pretty fuzzy; I'd recommend Eppard doesn't stray too far from Coheed. However, if another Weerd Science album is absolutely in the cards, here's hoping for less thuganomics and more paranoid ranting, raving, and condemning.
 

• Visit the Official website.
• Listen to samples and Purchase this CD online

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