Hurricane Party: Juice review – One of the year’s freshest, freakiest surprises

Accompanying press material pitches Hurricane Party as a yacht rap group. But you won’t find the Florida duo on a luxurious watercraft near Key West, lounging next to burly hip-hop behemoth Rick Ross, spitting rhymes about dirty guns and clean cocaine bricks.

No, sir. Instead, the pair – singer-songwriter RickoLus and rapper Bleubird­ – fuse elements of nerdcore, indie rock and synthwave into their own madcap concoction.

Nothing on Hurricane Party’s debut album Juice should work. Take “XOXOXO,” which starts out as a percolating, 1980s-style electro-pop duet between RickLus and guest singer Pink Chroline before a snappy drum break comes out of nowhere, prompting Bleubird to absolutely sledgehammer his eccentric raps into the mix. Yet the duelling styles synthesise into something offbeat but always gripping.

The group’s unrestrained rap-rock often sparks memories of alternative hero Mike Patton: check out the crisp drums and slimy-grimy production of LIVN. Elsewhere, Pamplemouse is a super-catchy, soft-filtered pop song, while the rumbling electronica of Orange Juice sounds like it could have been co-signed by A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip.

The inclusion of the song Sunset Jet-Ski, which is knocking about online, would have added to the festivities. Still, this is one of the year’s freshest, freakiest surprises.