Hangar 18 Sweep the Leg

• Words: Michael Byrne
• Label: Definitive Jux
• XLR8R Rating: 4/10

Despite their indie leanings, Hangar 18 has all the trappings of heavily manufactured rap. The rhymes are so-so: It’s a tag-team of three members, something totally unnecessary given no one differs enough in tone, flow, or style for us to bother learning their names (though Sweep the Leg is so overproduced it’d be hard to tell anyhow). The record is joke-y but not smart enough for dumb lines about clubbing baby seals and “dumb bitches” to come across as anything but dumb. “Room to Breathe” stands out with its solid chorus and some nice guitar-laced production, as does “Really Wide”–which could just be because it hurries itself along–but street-life cliché “Watchyoself” is laughably bad.