Going past “Butterfly,” which of Loopy City’s deep cuts are the sickest?
As we speak, the nu-metal world misplaced an iconic frontman as we discovered Loopy City’s Shifty Shellshock (born Seth Binzer) has handed away.
READ MORE: Loopy City’s Shifty Shellshock Has Died at 49
Although many are doubtless acquainted with the band’s breakout hit “Butterfly,” most of their discography sounds nothing like that. The band’s debut, The Reward of Sport, for many of its runtime, is a dyed-in-the-wool nu-metal album. The lead single “Poisonous” grooves out with an enormous riff, setting them as much as be a certain wager for any future inclusion on the Household Values tour.
In fact, Shifty Shellshock’s rapping and singing, and his interaction with Bret “Epic” Mazur, had been an enormous a part of the enchantment, as he sounded pure in a sea of different frontmen struggling to place collectively rhymes.
In his honor, listed here are 5 of the sickest deep cuts within the band’s discography.
“Darkside”
The Reward of Sport‘s third, lesser-known single “Darkside” did not obtain practically the eye that “Butterfly” did, not to mention “Poisonous.” Nonetheless, it is bought so much going for it as an underrated nu-metal basic, that includes a riff written by Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and an earworm keyboard hook from Orgy frontman Jay Gordon. It is simply some of the 1999-sounding songs ever, in one of the simplest ways.
“Hollywood Babylon”
There should have been some contract each nu-metal band signed within the late ’90s that required them to jot down a track critiquing the music business. Loopy City’s “Hollywood Babylon” catalogs their very own odyssey via the world of labels courting their consideration and endless events. “I am getting excessive for a dwelling, not giving a fuck” is a hell of a line to finish a verse in any decade.
“Harm You So Dangerous”
Loopy City’s sophomore report Darkhorse had so much working in opposition to it, specifically the shortage of a single with the crossover enchantment of “Butterfly” and its launch within the waning days of nu-metal. Nonetheless, there have been some concepts left to discover, together with “Harm You So Dangerous,” which takes Deftones’ method for dreamy riffs and crops them into an ultra-catchy observe. Weezer bandleader Rivers Cuomo additionally exhibits as much as drop a hell of a guitar solo, although sadly he would not make an look within the video.
“Take It to the Bridge”
“Take It to the Bridge” appears like some of the self-referential nu-metal tracks ever, with the title eliciting Fred Durst’s command to “Take it to the Matthews Bridge” on “My Technology.” Shifty Shellshock raps the road “I am torn like Korn taking part in comply with the chief” earlier than launching right into a braggadocious verse. The track’s bought a hell of a bass line that is arduous to not dig, too.
“Battle Cry”
The heaviest track Loopy City wrote is definitely “Battle Cry,” which lets its riff do a lot of the speaking. It is a large mosh half, with Shifty Shellshock calling for the pit by maintaining his rhymes targeted solely on conflict and combating. If a hardcore band put this out in 2024, nobody would blink a watch.
