Ugly Duckling - Taste The Secret

"Way back when shoelaces were fat and Michael Jackson was black." Yep, Ugly Duckling have a jones for the old-school. 1988 in the hizzouse! When rap meant something! When groups like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest put out enjoyably lighthearted concept albums! When it was okay for an MC to have a silly voice! Throughout Taste The Secret, they do just that; a 16-song cycle centered around a fictional fast-food joint called Meat Shake^TM (it's a metaphor for the music industry or something). The trio spit amiably, in a very mid-period Beastie Boys kinda way, about fictional idealized women like "Abigail Silk" who pass them by; the perils of being an "Opening Act;" and having to "Dumb It Down" when people don't really get their steez. Which would be cool... if we were LIVING back in the day, instead of just talking about it. The comedy is pretty good, as are the lyrics and flow (some of the rhymes are even wonderfully complex at times). The beats and sampling work should earn member Young Einstein some well-deserved props. No one could deny that, all in all, Ugly Duckling are some clever dudes. It's just that this type of thing has been done before, and better. Not just by the aforementioned artists, but by similar-minded new school cats; Little Brother is a perfect example, and they maintained a sense of humor without keeping tongue firmly in cheek. Nostalgia trips are fine, but the UD crew might want to think about some fresher material; as solid and enjoyable as it may be, Taste The Secret is a little past it's sell-by date. [www.uglyduckling.us]