From The Inbox….

QuePac EP

by Dan-O

It’s not enough to be odd. A lot of the weakest submissions to our FME inbox have been people TRYING to be tough rappers or weird rappers. What strikes you at once about the duo from Bushwick (QuePac consists of Paco the Dopest Nerd and Que Cee) is that they don’t need to try on different identities. The first track is a squirrely mid tempo celebration of their mutual oddity (Freak Flag Fly) produced by July Quin.

Don’t worry about a slow build. The QuePac EP is a kinetic experience. Watch Out! deserves the exclamation point in its song title. Any song that features the line “They all childish, enough with the talk silence them, attack Paul Ryan with raw violent scientists,” is worth a few repeated listens. Tony Bella production gives the track a boom bap minimalism perfect to spit fire over.

Maybe kinetic isn’t a strong enough word for the full listening experience. Once you make your way through the drinking song Flask to the very Ah-ha Take On Me sounding Catfish, with a brilliantly sung chorus by Sharina Marisela, you get a steady head nod sitting on the stoop theme song in Rooftops. This is all a precursor to the bonus track (A.O. is a B_) which bubbles over with the same promising ferocity that seems to be the QuePac calling card. If Rooftops feels like the perfect zone out track the bonus track is its opposite. It’s so brutally personal beyond late rent and drug addiction to bad parenting accusations and late child support. The immediate discomfort it causes is a side-effect of the author’s vision. You’re transported into the middle of a tirade trying to cup your ears.

That power doesn’t make the QuePac EP a classic but it leaves you wondering what the heck these guys will put together in the future. I can’t wait.

Stream or Download the Quepac EP below:
https://dirtylifestudio.bandcamp.com/album/quepac-ep