Shook

Atlanta-based Algiers, who since their founding have made broad-minded post-punk inspired by anticolonial liberation movements, expanded their sound greatly for their fourth album. These songs blend southern rap, noise, free jazz, hardcore punk, new wave, spoken word, and gospel, among other things. Algiers made this album a big collective effort, and the lineup of guests is wild. (See the ZK tracklist and the track-by-track for more info.) The lyrics are thick with historical references, and vocalist Franklin James Fisher delivers them with great power. The result is exhilaratingly dense and messy, driven equally by celebration and protest. Vital. RIYL: Public Enemy, Young Fathers, clipping., Rage against the Machine, Outkast, D'Angelo and the Vanguard, Idles, books published by Verso. FCC WARNING: 3, 8, 11, 15 (and be aware of the word "n****" on 4 and 6). Favorites: 1, 2, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17.

1. *(4:46)—Mid-tempo, classic boom-bap feel with funk choruses. Great relaxed verse from Big Rube.
2. *(4:43)—Mid-tempo, with a heavy trap beat and fast 80s synth pulses. A fiery verse from Zack de la Rocha precedes a closing that sounds like supercharged Syrian wedding music.
3. (2:38)—FCC (p***, though oddly "f***" and "s***" are bleeped out even in the regular version of the song.) Fast, noisy post-punk.
4. (1:34)—FCC-ish ("n****"). Mid-tempo but downcast. Despondent singing over a melancholy sample.
5. (1:20)—Spoken word from Big Rube over soft synths.
6. (6:01)—FCC-ish ("n****"). Slow, ghostly hip-hop. Gradual build before the beat becomes a heavy rock groove about four minutes in.
7. (3:13)—Slow, spoken word with jazz bass and a looped Sun Ra sample. Slow build.
8. (0:39)—FCC (f***, s***). Brief recording of activist An Do.
9. ((2:17)—Fast. Starts as classic punk rock with group vocals before a spacier second half.
10. *(3:25)—Cruising mid-tempo beat under gospel samples and goth textures. Vocalists from Future Islands and Braeyden Jae guest.
11. (1:06)—FCC (s***, f***). Spoken word piece from Gari Thomas.
12. *(6:18)—Slow and heavily gospel-influenced to start. Dissonant piano, clapping, and cavernous group vocals. Explodes into noise before switching to a driving beat for the final two minutes.
13. (1:27)—Ominous soundscape, spoken word from LaToya Kent of Mourning [A] BLKstar.
14. *(4:19)—Slow. Noisy, droning, new-wavey funk. Reminiscent of Dälek. Guest verse from Nadah El Shazly.
15. (4:54)—FCC (f***, s***). Jagged, dubby post-punk song about police brutality.
16. (2:33)—Funereal synths, spoken word from DeForrest Brown Jr., saxophone from Patrick Shiroishi.
17. *(3:23)—Slow, dense gospel-funk. Deep bass, group vocals, spoken word from Lee Bains III.