Album Review: Suburban Dark - Second Front

The success of Big Village is a story that can make us all proud to be Sydneysiders. The little boutique label that started out as the brainchild of a few highly talented but under-appreciated Sydney rappers and producers has grown into an independent label that bears comparison to its bigger brothers, Elefant Traks and Obese Records. With Second Front we have one of the most complete realisations of the BV artists-and-alleyways aesthetic yet, and one of the most outstanding Sydney releases of the year.

SD30 is the scene-setter. Rarely does a 30-second intro track deserve a mention but here, as the tick-tick-tick devolves into the industrial buzz of next song New Developments, we are transported to a world of back streets and bleep bloops. The title track is menacing: a vicious alien purr, grimey synth lines and neat cymbals. Pressure Tek is a particular highlight, making good on its woozy promise to “take you away”. Fallout, with a superfast lesson in rhyme from Mikeon, is suitably post-apocalyptic. Rapaport's What Ya Know About That? is monstrous, urgent, irresistible.

It's a measure of the success of this record that the stellar list of guest rappers – Tuka, Jeswon, Grey Ghost, P.Smurf and more – are forced to concede ground to the backdrops SD paint. Each is enslaved to the all-consuming paranoia our hosts purvey. To be engaging is one thing; any music worth listening to must be engaging. With Second Front our Sydney superheroes have taken it a step further and created something immersive. Nothing left, then, but to take the red pill and enjoy the ride.