Tricky

The critical consensus has been that Tricky has gotten worse with every album since his popular debut, 1995's Maxinquaye. As is so often true, critical consensus is wrong. Tricky could have repeated the laid-back, trip-hop formula of that successful first record but instead chose to move farther out to the borders with the 1996 releases Pre-Millennium Tension and Nearly God, and his misunderstood classic, 1998's bold, disturbing Angels With Dirty Faces. \nThe critical and commercial reaction to the 1998 record was so universally negative, even Tricky seemed to notice. Its follow-up, 1999's Juxtapose, was a slight concession to commercial concerns, with its more traditional hip-hop feel. But by then the public had lost interest, and he was dropped from Island Records after the album failed.\nNow he's turned up with a new deal on Epitaph Records, the U.S. independent label best known for punk-pop like Rancid and the Offspring but which has expanded its roster in recent years with signings like Tom Waits. It's a shame that Tricky's return to the world of recorded music is this largely inconsequential four-song EP. \nIn one respect, Tricky seems to be trying to go back to the dark soundscapes of Angels, with the guitar loops and explosive live drums of the title track. But it feels a little stale; he was doing this three years ago and much better. Even worse, the chorus is actually the chorus from Peter Gabriel's "Big Time." I know somebody somewhere decided it was cool to steal from 1980's hits, but … well, it's not cool. \nThe fact that he's scraping the barrel with Peter Gabriel shows how played out this fad is. On "Crazy Claws" and "Tricky vs. Lynx," he brings back motormouthed rapper Mad Dog, whose incomprehensible stylings on Juxtapose were briefly entertaining, but they begin to grate here. \nThe fourth track will be familiar to long-time Tricky fans. "Divine Comedy" was actually recorded in 1998 after an executive at his then-label Island made some racist comments about blacks. An incensed Tricky immediately cut this track, which contains some very pointed language and was obviously never going to be released on Island. He snuck it out on a bootleg white-label 12-inch; now it's finally widely available. As far as the song goes, it's also something of a letdown, mainly because the backing track is the same as "Money Greedy" from Angels.\nTricky can rest assured that in 30 years, people will still be listening to his catalog while overrated trip-hoppers like Portishead will be largely forgotten. But with this release, he's in danger of becoming irrelevant. If you're a die-hard fan, you'll want to pick this up. But if you're a novice, you'd be better served by any of his earlier Island releases.