Rolling Stone contributing editor Christian Hoard spent some quality time at Spring Break with Asher Roth, so he can attest to the twentysomething “I Love College” rapper’s ability to rhyme (check out a gallery of Roth’s nonstop party in Florida.) Roth’s debut Asleep in the Bread Aisle leads this week’s New Music Report, and Hoard breaks down what most people know about the Pennsylvania native: he’s white, he likes weed and he sounds a bit like that other white rapper who has an album coming out this Spring. But there’s more to Roth that booze and babes.

Roth teamed with newcomer Oren Yoel, who crafted the chipper beats on Asleep, and the album has plenty of pleasant surprises. Asher rhymes hilariously about getting girls on “Lion’s Roar” and justifies his existence with “As I Em.” White rappers are often fodder for satire and sketch comedy, but Hoard agrees with Jody Rosen, who reviewed the album in the issue: Asher Roth is no joke.

Hoard also takes a look at the new album from synth-rock legends Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe. The album earned two and a half stars from Melissa Maerz, who noted that “Spacewalker” sounds like the Star Trek score rewritten by a depressed robot.

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