Press packages are normally hilariously over the top, but always have a grain of truth…and even worse cliches than that last one. I'm feeling lazy so I'm just going to liberally 'borrow' lines from the press package that came with Ninja High School's new album, Young Adults Against Suicide.

"Ninja High School are a positive hardcore dance-rap band"
Despite the fact that this description sounds like some sort of horrible genre train wreck, it is actually a fairly accurate description of the band. Ninja High School builds on stripped down yet interesting beats and hip hop sound effects. The songs all have a driving beat better described as being more playful than confrontational. They also make good use of such hip hop standbys as random horns, samples (Ninja High School is a big fan of the random spoken word samples, such as one from Confederate President Jefferson Davis on "Shake It Off" that must have been found on a very very old piece of vinyl…ha…ha), and some terrifically ramshackle harmonizing (on many of the songs it sounds like a bunch of kids at a party just sort of singing the chorus along, but still in a melodious way, very catchy). It is nothing amazingly new, but more than enough to get you to tap your toes, and at its best, move your feet and make you dance dance dance.

The actual lyrics match the aggressive beats with some fast paced talk/rapping that rely less on flow and more on aggression (this would be the rap part of the group's "hardcore dance-rap" quality). Often times the group breaks down from rapping to screaming at the choruses (and this would be the hardcore part of the "hardcore dance-rap" quality).

To complete the breakdown, the band are positive in that they avoid the common rap pitfalls (homophobia/misogyny, etc.) in their message and instead seek to rally against "The Man" in general…although you might still find this kind of negative if you are "The Man".

"'I read a lot of dense poststructuralist theory and art criticism, so there’s a lot of stuff about combining ethics and aesthetics that I’m try to not be verbose about. The idea is that the writing style in the books may be pompous, it may be daunting, but the key ideas can be broken down very easily and then turned into catchy, dancey singalong choruses.'"
This mouthful of a quote is taken straight from Ninja High School's Matt Collins and reflects how Ninja High School does stretch for some interesting ideas in their lyrics. You can't beat the following line from "Feverish Dream":

Why haven't we crucified Ian MacKaye?/He should be deified, not hidden behind Velvet Underground lies!

But as for what exactly he's talking about, I can't say because I really only remember the ridiculously catchy choruses of the songs. The lessons I've learned from the following songs are:

• "you're going home in a fucking ambulance!" in "It's All Right to Fight"
• "we don't wanna hurt feelings but the people who keep wasting our time/should shut the fuck up 'cause this is what's up" in "Jam Band Death Cult"
• "we built a big gun so we could realize our goals/positive laser set it off!/the ammunition's you a hundred minds, a hundred souls/positive laser you’re my friend" in "Positive Laser"
• "shake shake shake shake shake it off" in "Shake it Off"

So has Matt done too good of a job breaking down his complicated ideas into chorus tidbits that are so catchy they distract from his real point? Or am I being too damn lazy to put forth the effort to delve into the dense verses between the choruses? As usual, the answer is probably somewhere in between (although I must admit that I am pretty damn lazy), but regardless I certainly enjoy the ideas that flash to the forefront of my mind.

"True to its title, Young Adults Against Suicide will make all you kids want to have some fun and dance, instead of killing yourselves"
Ok, I made this quote up, but you have to admit it's a pretty awesome summary of this album. If you want to hire me to write promotional material for your band's next, please email me.