Hollywood Undead

Let’s Get To Know Hollywood Undead

According to their MySpace profile, the members of Hollywood Undead are:

• Lyrical Genius - Charlie Scene
• Sweet Talker - J Dog
• Loud Mouth - Da Kurlzz
• Singer - Tha Producer
• African Baritone - Funny Man
• The Server - Johnny 3 Tear

While their profile is light on band history, we know this much - they are from Hollywood. There are six of them. They wear masks. On the subjects of mask, the band claim to employ these “bone chilling” masks so their “strapping good looks cannot take away from their musical artistry.” (Incidentally, “bone-chilling” might be going a little far, guys).

Hollywood Undead claim to fuse “morbid Hip-Hop, surrealistic Hardcore, and fashion conscious metal.” They claim they are influenced by “Hollywood, designer jeans, Mickey’s-40s, Subway sandwiches, riding bikes drunk…” and well, you get the picture.

The band’s website is under construction, but www.hollywoodundead.com should be up and running soon.

The Music

Hollywood Underground, you confuse me. I’ll say this for you anyway - your sound is eclectic. First, let’s start with the song with the most potential - My Black Dahlia is hard hitting - dark, angry, angsty, and genuine. That’s not an easy thing to do. The music is sufficiently minimal and repetitive to create a feeling of tension, and the trading off between the spoken verses and the sung refrain and bridge works well. In some ways, My Black Dahlia reminds me of Murder Was the Case by Snoop, another song that does a good job of communicating the feeling of spiraling out of control. This song could be your hit.

Scene for Dummies - This is cheesy - “put it in your iPod, put it on your home page, be the coolest kid on MySpace.” “Tired of getting picked on by mean kids.” Come on, if you’re going to claim to have a “lyrical genius” in your band, you’re going to have to come with more than that. Like all kinds of music, really, good hip-hop is about a lot more than singing about guns and your sexual prowess. This song is a bit like hip-hop for dummies - mention guns - check, shoot something up - check, swear a lot - check. It’s just not believable. Don’t say it for the sake of saying it - you won’t convince anyone. It’s a shame, too, because the music track is good.

The Natives - OK, this is where my confusion comes in. This is a sound I was not expecting. The obscenities and the occasional growl do not distract from just how top 40 pop this song is. Perhaps this was an attempt at pop metal, but it is missing the little edge that gives that genre the “metal” part of its name. This song is treading dangerously close to boy band territory. I have to assume that is unintentional.

No. 5 - The start comes on like maybe a little pop punk number, maybe a little 80s synth, but then, again, this is flirting with boy band-ness. Again, the obscenities do nothing to hide the mainstream pop nature of the song here. This song sounds overly produced - like a song a major label would ask you to sing so they can market you, which is interesting. And hey, this song has some hit potential. But it just doesn’t jibe with the image you portray of the band. Fans who you had at My Black Dahlia would be mighty disappointed when this number came up.

So, Hollywood Undead - alas, not my cup of tea. But more than a lot of people seem to want a different cup of tea from me, as evidenced by Hollywood Undead’s MySpace success. The future is bright - just which genre will be the brightest remains to be seen.