Atlantic / Wea
2005
Haunted Cities
About This Album
Transplants' 2002 debut shouldn't have worked. There was the supergroup tag, for one, with Tim Armstrong and Travis Barker at the center of a trio that also included vocalist/rapper Ron Aston. And besides, their charge of modified punk revivalism, streetscape grit, and hip-hop bravado seemed (on paper anyway) like music for the villains in a DMX action vehicle, or at the very least a sound tailored for game systems. Nevertheless it was oddly effective, and managed some real atmosphere. In 2005 the Transplants return. They've skipped from Armstrong's Hellcat imprint to Barker's Atlantic-distributed La Salle, but it's close to the same sound on Haunted Cities. Opener "Not Today" suggests the first record's "Tall Cans in the Air"; it sounds like a futuristic retelling of 1977 punk, and Sen Dog stops by for a guest verse. "Apocalypse Now" isn't as effective -- its lyrical rage is empty, and the converted drum'n'bass backing track doesn't go anywhere. But the single "Gangsters and Thugs" is as oddly effective as the debut with its turntables and hedonism, organ drop-ins, and skittering percussion racket. "Gangsters and thugs/Criminals and hoods/Some of my friends sell records/Some of my friends sell drugs.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4,9 and 10)

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