Lakutis
Three Seashells
Greedhead Music – February 20th 2014
By Joshua Khan (@blaremag)
Find it at: Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Tumblr
8.0
To whom it may concern: Lakutis goes hard. Though Aleksey Weintraub has been kicking it since 2011 or so, it’s easy to pick him out in rap’s most recent class picture – he’s in the back, bloodied and grinning while his two gold teeth glisten like the predacious look in his eyes that’s hidden by Versace shades. His debut mimes the image, partially because Three Seashells is an original skit on how eccentricity can give hip-hop a more volatile coat of spray paint. On the album’s first three songs, Lakutis’ inventive side boils over – he comes out bobbing and weaving like it’s 1993 on “What The Fuck”; proceeds to delight with cyber punk mojo on “Animal”; and then carves his name into your neck with “Jesus Piece”, a Steel Tipped Dove joint that disregards classics and thrashes to the tune of True Detective.
It’s a brooding dip that’s all the more intense and Lakutis keeps his finesse on hand, fluttering on to smack the back of your head with teething aggression (“Chinese Slippers”) before digging into your love handles with Hot Sugar’s toxic bass baps (“Body Scream”). The flip side is full of obsession-worthy old cuts and feral gut punches – all of which he pulls off with only one guest (DVS). But before you know it, he takes the collar off of Three Seashells, giving it space to sputter over progressive beats that’ll torture your headspace and leave you in a “skeletahn”-induced coma.
Listen: “What The Fuck”, “Too Ill For The Law”, “Body Scream”, “Dope As Fuck” || Watch: “Jesus Piece”