Bloodhound Gang

By turns offensive and just plain dorky, the Bloodhound Gang will not likely ever get much credit for being one of the earliest groups of suburban white guys to integrate rap into their rock and pop music. After an independent debut EP, Dingleberry Haze, brought attention to the band's blend of early Beastie Boys brattiness, Ween's sick-in-the-head stoner humor, and a musical vocabulary defined by watch-ing too much MTV in the '80s, the group arrived nationally with Use Your Fingers. While passing mild misogyny off as playful fun and attempting other assaults on political correctness ("You're Pretty When I'm Drunk," "She Ain't Got No Legs"), Bloodhound Gang rampages through the detritus of low-pop culture, referencing Kajagoogoo and Sanford & Son. While doing its best to act dumb, the music is deceptively eclectic, ranging from early rap-rock fusion to human beatbox a cappella. Ultimately, though, how much you can take of this record depends mostly on your tolerance for the group's middle-school humor.

One Fierce Beer Coaster offers more of the same, but in smaller, more easy-to-swallow doses: There's the postmodern kitchen-sink pop references, the eager-to-offend lyrics ("I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks," "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny"), and the mix of rap rock with moments that indicate a wider musical palette. And "Fire Water Burn," which combines old-school hip-hop with Cake-like monotone and a Pixies quote, is accessible enough to have earned the group its first notable airplay.

After a four-year absence, the Bloodhound Gang returned with Hooray for Boobies, the group's most musically varied release and also its most hateful, complete with purportedly playful takes on prison torture ("I Hope You Die"), rape ("A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When the Stripper Is Crying"), and angry sex ("Yummy Down on This") that, regardless of intent, don't sound like much fun (or very funny) at all. The exception is the record's minor hit, "The Bad Touch," a catchy pop song set to a synth-pop/house beat that indicates the group's ability to temper its sophomoric attitude into something worth hearing. (RONI SARIG)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide