Beastie Boys

The Mix-Up (Capitol)

By Oscar Raymundo
Published: June 27th, 2007 | 10:26pm

Diverging from 2004’s critically acclaimed To the 5 Boroughs, the Beastie Boys return with their first-ever full album of previously unreleased instrumental material, The Mix-Up.

Mike "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz take over the drums, guitar, and bass to create a different type of New York sound, one without samples or scratches. Just like "Fight for Your Right" was the anthem of 1980s rebellion and To the 5 Boroughs was an ode to a city recovering from the 9/11 tragedy, The Mix-Up is more old-school. It's New York before the Beastie Boys. It's 1970s feel-good, funk-lounge.

But missing is what gave relevance to the trio's defiant, punk attitude: lyrics. In the case of the Beastie Boys, words tend to deliver their not-so-adolescent message with the strongest punch. The trio has undergone a noticeable musical evolution, using street sounds as social commentary of urban Americana. The rowdy, party boys are all grown up and their lyrics have followed them down mature lane all the way. But The Mix-Up feels like a retrograde. Listening to a wordless Beastie Boys album is like walking in a streetless city — the connections are gone.

This is not the first time the Beastie Boys have decided to go mute. The In Sound from Way Out! album, released in 1996, compiled various instrumental cuts from 1992’s Check Your Head and 1994’s Ill Communication. The In Sound was neither a hit nor a miss (more of a fans-only), just middle-of-the-road, mediocre fanfare. Similarly, The Mix-Up manages to go completely unnoticed, and considering the Boys' catalogue, that's an unjustified musical crime.

The only track that builds on the sonic sounds that have defined the Beastie style is "Off the Grid," but even there you wonder what the Boys could've (should've) done with those beats to bring poetic justice back in the rap game. It makes you want to hear what the Boys have to say next.