Street Sweeper Social Club (album)

Last updated
Street Sweeper Social Club
SSSC.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 16, 2009 (2009-06-16)
Genre
Length39:03
Label Warner Music Group
Producer Tom Morello
Street Sweeper Social Club chronology
NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler
(2009)
Street Sweeper Social Club
(2009)
The Ghetto Blaster EP
(2010)
Singles from Street Sweeper Social Club
  1. "100 Little Curses"
    Released: April 27, 2009
  2. "Promenade"
    Released: September 29, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
RapReviewsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
SPIN Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Pitchfork Media (3.9/10) [6]

Street Sweeper Social Club is the debut self-titled album by American rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club, composed of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and rapper/emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The album was released by Warner Music Group on June 16, 2009.

Contents

The first single from the album, entitled "100 Little Curses", premiered on the band's Myspace on April 27, 2009.

Two additional songs from the album: "Clap for the Killers" and "The Oath" were released on the NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler , the EP sampler supporting the 2009 NIN|JA tour with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.

Morello describes the album as "revolutionary party jams. It's got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom." [7] Boots Riley added that "this is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will be homeless and more people will be jobless. They'll need something to listen to on their iPods while storming Wall Street." [8]

To support the release of the album, the band was confirmed as the opener for the Nine Inch Nails & Jane's Addiction 2009 tour, running from the 8th of May to the 12th of June.

On September 29, 2009, Tom Morello confirmed that "Promenade" was going to be a single via YouTube.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tom Morello and Boots Riley, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Fight! Smash! Win!"3:35
2."100 Little Curses"4:03
3."The Oath"4:25
4."The Squeeze"3:13
5."Clap for the Killers"3:57
6."Somewhere in the World It's Midnight"3:20
7."Shock You Again" (Stanton Moore, Morello, Riley)2:41
8."Good Morning, Mrs. Smith"3:20
9."Megablast" (Moore, Morello, Riley)3:47
10."Promenade"2:31
11."Nobody Moves (Til We Say Go)"4:13
12."Promenade" (Live) (iTunes bonus track) 

Personnel

Additional personnel

Chart performance

ChartPeak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 37
U.S. Top Independent Albums 4

Related Research Articles

The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned political hip hop band aligned to radical music groups such as Crass, Dead Prez and Rage Against the Machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Morello</span> American guitarist and singer-songwriter

Thomas Baptist Morello is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and with the rock band Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Under the moniker the Nightwatchman Morello released his solo work. Together with Boots Riley, he formed Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Wilk</span> American drummer

Brad Wilk is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage (2016–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breckin Meyer</span> American actor

Breckin Erin Meyer is an American actor best known for his roles in films such as Clueless (1995), The Craft (1996), Road Trip (2000), Rat Race (2001) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). He played Jon Arbuckle in the live-action Garfield movies. He also voiced Joseph Gribble in King of the Hill (2000–2010) and starred as Jared Franklin in Franklin & Bash (2011–2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Nightwatchman</span> Tom Morellos solo project

The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello. Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing apolitical music with Audioslave.

"Know Your Enemy" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It features Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan on vocals during the bridge section, and Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins playing additional percussion. Allmusic describes the song as "immediately memorable" and "surprisingly straightforward" while music critic Joel McIver cited it as "a standout track" of the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boots Riley</span> American rapper / Filmmaker

Raymond Lawrence "Boots" Riley, is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Sorry to Bother You, which he also wrote.

<i>Pick a Bigger Weapon</i> 2006 studio album by The Coup

Pick a Bigger Weapon is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group The Coup. It was released on Epitaph Records on April 25, 2006. It peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, as well as number 35 on the Independent Albums chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanton Moore</span> American drummer

Stanton Moore is an American funk, jazz, and rock drummer from New Orleans. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calling Dr. Love</span> 1977 single by Kiss

"Calling Dr. Love" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1976 album Rock and Roll Over.

Carl Restivo is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He has toured with Rihanna, Tom Morello's Freedom Fighter Orchestra supporting The Nightwatchman, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party, and Street Sweeper Social Club, who toured with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.

<i>The Fabled City</i> 2008 studio album by The Nightwatchman

The Fabled City is the second studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on September 30, 2008.

<i>Townes</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Steve Earle

Townes is the 13th studio album by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released in 2009. It is an album on which he pays tribute to his friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt by covering his songs. According to a New West Records press release, "The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to. Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career and others he had to learn specifically for recording.

<i>NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler</i> 2009 compilation EP from NIN|JA tour

NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler is a free compilation EP by Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper Social Club as part of the Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction 2009 NINJA tour. It was released on March 20, 2009 for free, on the tour's official website. Both of Street Sweeper Social Club's songs that appeared on the album, "Clap for The Killers" & "The Oath", later appeared on their self-titled album. The two Nine Inch Nails tracks, "Not So Pretty Now" and "Non-Entity" were both originally recorded during the With Teeth sessions, but did not make it onto the final record. The two Jane's Addiction's songs are re-recorded versions of songs that had originally only live versions, from the band's first official record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street Sweeper Social Club</span> American rap/rock supergroup

Street Sweeper Social Club is an American rap rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist and emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band had been testing songs out during Tom Morello's Nightwatchman tour and released an album on June 16, 2009. Stanton Moore drummed for the group for the recording of the album although he did not join the band for the following tour. Street Sweeper Social Club opened for Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction in May 2009. Street Sweeper Social Club describes itself as "more than a band, it's a social club." Their 2010 EP The Ghetto Blaster EP includes covers of M.I.A. "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".

<i>The Ghetto Blaster EP</i> 2010 EP by Street Sweeper Social Club

The Ghetto Blaster EP is the first EP from the rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club, released on August 10, 2010. It features covers of "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. and "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J as well as a remix of the band's second single "Promenade." They also cover The Coup song "Everythang". It has also been confirmed that the full touring band has recorded on the album. Tom Morello spoke about the EP in a press release, saying that they shot for an interesting combination of groups. "On The Ghetto Blaster EP we were shooting for a combo of the first Clash record and the Ohio Players greatest hits, interwoven with tractor trailer size riffs of course. This record definitely has more of a 'band' feel than the first, and Boots’ lyrics and delivery have never been sharper." Boots Riley has also said of the EP “We got a new EP that’s going to come out called The Ghetto Blaster EP. [You can expect] hard, hard, hard music and some raw as lyrics on top.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promenade (Street Sweeper Social Club song)</span> 2010 single by Street Sweeper Social Club

"Promenade" is the second single by rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club from their debut self-titled album. The version that was released as a single differs from that on the album, the original version on the album is 2:31 in length whereas the extended version is 3:40 in length. The extended version features a guitar solo by Tom Morello, the extended version is also on The Ghetto Blaster EP, but is listed as the 'Guitar Fury remix'.

<i>Union Town</i> (album) 2011 EP by The Nightwatchman

Union Town is an EP by The Nightwatchman, alter ego of musician Tom Morello. It is his third release as the Nightwatchman overall, and includes many covers of famous union songs, including "Solidarity Forever" and "Which Side Are You On?". Unlike Morello's previous efforts, the EP was self-produced by Morello himself, and is his first release on the New West Records label.

<i>World Wide Rebel Songs</i> 2011 studio album by The Nightwatchman

World Wide Rebel Songs is the third full-length studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on August 29, 2011, through Morello's new label New West Records, and like his previous release Union Town, was self-produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prophets of Rage</span> American rap rock band

Prophets of Rage was an American rap rock supergroup. Formed in 2016, the group consisted of three members of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two members of Public Enemy, and rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill. The band disbanded in 2019, following the reuniting of Rage Against the Machine. During its three-year existence, Prophets of Rage released one EP and one full-length studio album.

References

  1. "Allmusic review".
  2. "PopMatters review".
  3. "RapReviews review".
  4. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on June 24, 2009.
  5. "Spin review".
  6. "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork .
  7. Poladian, Charles (2009-04-23). "Street Sweeper Social Club readies Street Sweeper Social Club". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  8. Poladian, Charles (2009-04-23). "Street Sweeper Social Club readies Street Sweeper Social Club". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2009-04-26.