Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo (Big Dada)

Over the last year there have been signs that hip-hop is entering a decline. Its shift into the mainstream has meant the music is now in thrall to the dull monotone of 50 Cent with its most recent innovators Jay Z and Eminem already examining their self-important retirement plans. While Kanye West continues to delight, his producer instincts mean he's far too commercially conscious to be truly inventive, while the alternative backpack scene is self-annihilating with the consistently morose and unlistenable Bush-baiting of the former Company Flow crew.

So let's give thanks for Spank Rock, a Baltimore based MC who, with producer XXXchange, has remembered that hip-hop was once a cultural pariah that people liked because it was fun. The title of their debut album YoYoYoYoYo sums up the straightforward return to roots you can expect but despite the efforts of the "ass'n'boobs" obsessed lyrics to convince you otherwise, this isn't a dumb retread of the electro scene.

Opening track Backyard Betty establishes the tone with puerile lyrics set against polyphonic melodies, chatting beats and a dank, palpitating bass drum. This is followed by What It Look Like with its plucked string glitches and ponderous broken beats. But just as you begin to think it is all a bit abstract and intelligent, the subtle 4/4 beats of IMC bursts into life with a funky mix of jazz samples and pacy rhythms. Soon you're waving your hands in the air to the party chants of Sweet Talk, grooving hard to the monotone electro of Rick Rubin and shaking your ass to the brilliant Tone Loc meets Orbital grind of Bump. The latter manages to avoid charges of excessive misogyny by having Philadelphia MC Amanda Blank deliver the dirtiest rhymes of the album.

Despite the obvious debt to the electro era of Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, there's still something very fresh about Spank Rock. YoYoYoYoYo is essential listening for all your wild parties.

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