The Cranberry Show's new sophomore album, Paranormal Karaoke, doesn't remotely feel like the work of the same group that released Sex and Pencil Shavings just two years ago. That 2010 debut was the kind of goofy, class-clown rap that I usually can't stand, executed with such commitment and follow-through that I couldn't help but grudgingly respect it even as it irked me. Over the series of mixtapes that followed that album, the Milwaukee duo tempered their sillier whims and sharpened their lyricism considerably, and Paranormal Karaoke benefits greatly from that maturity.
The biggest upgrade, though, may be the production, which trades the semi-satirical club-rap of Sex and Pencil Shavings for the smoother, lusher and at times much odder textures of producers Smash Boiz, Klassik, Plaga and Dylan Thomas. The result is a more ambitious, artful album than anybody could have expected from the group a couple years ago.
You can stream or download Paranormal Karaoke at DJBooth.net.
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