The New World Side Order

I'm always a bit wary of any record cover that has an alien on the cover...especially if it's a Grey. Don't ask me why, but things with aliens populating cover art tend to be a wee bit drug related for some strange reason and as a result not exactly good. So here comes The New World Side Order who actually claim to have an alien in the band! Yeah...exactly. Anyway, with their self titled album and DVD and I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to even go any further. It just didn't seem like it would be any good, despite the fact that I love the name and felt this immediate urge to go buy a extra-large size McDonald's fry (side order...get it...ok that was bad). Well clever and quirky name aside, and ignoring the aliens, The New World Side Order wasn't at all what I was expecting. I totally figured this album would be some sort of sub-Sublime jam rock or something wanting desperately to be like Crazy Town (remember them?), what I got instead was some deep underground hip hop that's just on this side of insane.

The New World Side Order is riddled with potential and so close to being exactly where it wants to be that it almost hurts. The Order, as I'll call them, sound a hair shy of being something like a political Eminem or Mickey Avalon if he wore a space suit. It's off centered stuff that at times hits it's stride as it does on, "Show Love," and then falls flat on it's face like it does on, "The Last Song." Overall though, The Order are almost there and the reason for all this is because of their lof-fi banging beats. They are good, but with a bit more atmospherics and tighter beats these guys could be unstoppable and The New World Side Order could be downright creepy. As it stands though, much of The New World Side Order is a good record that sounds a bit ramshackle and pieced together as if they were making "dimez out of dimez."

On the flip side of this album is a DVD which shows The Order on stage and out of control. I actually like the spacesuit thing that they flaunt and hope they weren't contaminated while making the record. Overall, The New World Side Order is an entertaining package that brings you rhymes, beats, and biohazardous material and who wouldn't like that? The Order are clearly on their way to bigger and better things and The New World Side Order is a fine stepping stone in that direction. With a bit of decontamination and wicked atmospherics these guys could be a new form of chemical warfare. Something for you and Homeland Security to keep an eye on.