Hewhocorrupts

Microeconomics (2006)

Brian Shultz

Straight up, Hewhocorrupts is pretty much a jokey nü-grind/hardcore band, but with so many tongue-in-cheek elements going on it's easily appreciated. Granted, it's really hard to take all their intensity so seriously, but it's a wholllle lot of fun.

The real story with Microeconomics however is its mind-boggling packaging. While I didn't receive the business card as promised in the description, I did get everything else: wallet-sized band photos in the booklet laminate, a "receipt" with the track listing, lyrics and EP info, and my HEWHOEXPRESS Business Platinum Card (the actual CD shaped as a credit card), all in a Velcro wallet, the kind you probably owned when you were in elementary school. This is all pretty amazing to own, but how is the actual music inside?

Kind of fucking hilarious, actually.

After an introduction track explaining the benefits of my new platinum card in which the announcer's voice speeds up into unintelligible legal rambling, things get t0taLly br00taL, as I'm sure the band would like to stress with alternating caps. The standout tracks definitely all appear in the second half, though: "You Dropped the Ball…" with its tough guy posturing ("You stupid fucking imbecile / I hate your fucking face / I hate your cat / I hate your dog / I rest my fucking case / Go dig a hole / Shoot yourself / Go get fucked"), "Last of the Financial Statements" with its sporadic samples of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two" ("Hit it!"), and "Maybe You Should Grow Balls," which samples the ">"he kicked 'im in the penis!" meme.

With song titles either mentioning corporate references or balls, Hewhocorrupts isn't messing aro--okay, who am I kidding, of course they're messing around. Microeconomics is unquestionably teeming with some novelty value, but that's sort of what makes it so likeable.

Oh yeah, you can download the whole sub five-minute deal below, since I'm pretty sure it's now sold out.

MP3 / STREAM
Microeconomics