Naturally, the same can also be said for MIKE, who dedicates his sludgy drawl on POMPEII’s “Shutter Island” to navigate the bloodletting of life on the road. But there are stretches where he and Earl get too comfortable with lethargy, something that feels especially sleepy over a wispy set of beats that tend to end where they start off. On tracks like MIKE’s “The Fall” and Earl’s sluggish “Hot Water,” the music reverts to too-familiar vestiges of their past work. With lulls in momentum across the board, it’s almost like this record functions better as a playlist.
The Surf Gang formula meets the occasion on POMPEII // UTILITY with a wholesome sense of curiosity. Anchored by producer Harrison with help from Giane, Flea Diamonds, and more, the best melodies on here make up the most sunkissed, playful arrangements MIKE and Earl have ever rapped on: the spry, wavering fuzz at the heart of “Home on the Range,” the meditative drone of “#FREE #MIKE,” the twinkly chimes fluttering through “Tampering.” But the beats also answer questions I never thought to ask, like, What would MIKE sound like if Tyler sent him some shit that didn’t make Bastard? (“Shutter Island”) and What if Earl opened a beat pack from Marcusbasquiat in 2018? (“rectangle lens”).
A lot of the low end on the production really knocks, too. Off the drums alone, “Ew!,” “Man of the Month,” and “F.E.A.R.” wouldn’t feel out of place next to something from Veeze or Yachty. Earl unlocks his most slithery flows on “Tour de France,” full of heavy kicks and cymbal crashes.
That this isn’t a more ornate, Watch the Throne-type album is a bit deflating; the two collab tracks between the duo–“Leadbelly” and “Kirkland”–display how much of their synergy is left untapped across the 31 other tracks. It took some living with this record for it not to feel like a homogeneous, just-decent meld of MIKE and Earl throwing shots up in an empty gym. But the unceremoniousness makes sense. After all, part of the reason MIKE named his half of the record POMPEII is the fact that niggas spent so much of their time clapped in the studio; a weed-induced disarray reflective of a crumbling society. And not the type of disarray that yields an I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, but one that’s much looser. Sometimes, like on Earl’s “Chali 2na” or MIKE’s “AFRO,” it results in them smoothly waltzing with pitched-up presets, which is as fun and low-stakes it gets.
You also hear it in the money-counter fluttering at the start of “F.E.A.R.,” in Earl’s stoned “Yeahhh” tacked onto the instrumental outro for “React.” The nuttiness of Niontay’s guest verse on the former comes across like a kid who just ran off with someone’s bike. “Pushin P, man these lil niggas P. Diddy!” he spits with disgust. Everyone’s playing around but no one’s playing around. When MIKE raps, “Shit like a mukbang with the purse/I’m countin’ up cake and chicken” on “Kirkland,” you can hear an encouraging “Oooo” from Earl in the background. Levity!
