Brooklyn firestarters the Arsonists (now trimmed to a compact trio) have been inexplicably lauded in some quarters as the saviours of NY hip-hop, but on the evidence of their sophomore effort, the hype is losing some of its gloss.

Certainly their credentials are intact, and The Elements all present and correct – Jise One, Q-Unique and Swel Boogie have punched their time card as far as extra-curricular grafitti, B-Boy’ing and DJ’ing activities are concerned – but the music itself leaves a lot to be desired. We have to wonder exactly how real you can keep it while you’re raking in cash from the likes of Coca-Cola, Fox and Nike, mind you...

While the MC’ing throughout Date Of Birth is on point for the most part, styling a little like Busta Rhymes without quite so much unecessary snarling, there’s little here to suggest that the Arsonists are the rhyme pioneers they’ve been inflated as. Cuts like ‘Respect The Unexpected’ showcase the angry NY style that you’ll be (over)familiar with if you own any Wu-Tang records, and this pattern of tag-team shouting repeats tediously across all 16 tracks.

Indeed, the production sounds like a fifth generation facscimile of Ghostface Killah’s more minimal moments and it’s here that the album falters most seriously. As if suffering digital harpsichord on ‘Alive’ wasn’t bad enough, we’re subjected to poxy midi-fied piano and horribly limp beats on every other cut.

Whatever went wrong in the studio, the delivery comes off sounding like the Arsonists are reaching to be heard above furious programming that

never actually made it to the finished product. As for album closer ‘Millionaire’, the “hilariously clever” satirical swipe at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, I’ve heard more chuckles at a road accident.

James Kelleher 5