Come Find Yourself by Fun Lovin' Criminals (Vinyl, 1996)

8718469536719

28050170338

Fun Lovin' Criminals

Vinyl

1996

Come Find Yourself

LP

Alternative, Rock

Fun Lovin' Criminals: Huey (vocals, guitar); Fast, Steve. Recorded at Steve Rosenthal's Magic Shop, New York, New York from April 25 to May 20, 1995. The Fun Lovin' Criminals' debut release, Come Find Yourself, is both a catchy love letter to the trio's New York City roots and a mid-'90s rap-rock party album. Vocalist and guitarist Hugh Morgan, keyboardist and bassist Brian Leiser, and original drummer Steve Borgovini met at New York City's famed Limelight nightclub in the early '90s and started as a stand-in for bands who failed to show up. From that point on, the Fun Lovin' Criminals cultivated their hip-hop beats, bluesy rhythms, and pop culture-themed rhymes. Heavily dominating the lyrical content are references to gritty urban living, samples from Tarantino movies, and send-ups of organized crime, as exemplified on the track "King of New York," boasting the singsong chorus "La di da di, free John Gotti." Even though the band touches on dark themes, the music is energetic and funky enough to keep it from being too subversive. In the end, Come Find Yourself is a perfectly crafted summertime party album. ~ Maggie Serota

1

Rolling Stone (4/4/96, p.60) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...using samples, loops, and scratches--with standard funk bass and beats--FLC stake a larger claim on hip-hop tools than G. Love [& Special Sauce] ever attempted..." Q (7/96, p.110) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...a vibrant splatterfest of urban hip hop, full of stomping beats, razor sharp ribald lyrics, fresh and frazzled samples and a compellingly crunchy set of melodies....They play fast and loose with wise-guy iconography against a crisp and bouncy backbeat..." NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #21 in NME's 1996 critic's poll. NME (Magazine) (6/29/96, p.54) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Where there should be grimaces, there are grins. Where there should be realism, there is surrealism....shooting out increasing bizarre shades of nonsense...as blissfully screwed up as it is listenable..."