Godforbid is a New York emcee, formerly of the group Alaskan Fishermen with Fathertime and Thirstin Howl The 3rd, currently fronting the band That Handsome Devil. He now steps out to release a solo album, Jesus Chrysler.

Now, if you’re only familiar with Godforbid from his work with That Handsome Devil, which plays a sort of cabaret punk style of music similar to Gogol Bordello, you might be a little surprised by the sound of this album. If you know Alaskan Fishermen, though, you’ll probably just nod knowingly when you hear this album. Working with producers Dr. Quandary and Louis Mackey, along with appearances by both 7L and Esoteric, Jesus Chrysler gives us a hip hop album that is drawing largely upon blues, garage rock, psychedelic rock, and Swordfishtrombones-era Tom Waits, all filtered through a boom bap lens. It works well with Godforbid’s gruff voice and melodic flow, and his penchant for lyrics that deal with existential philosophy and tales of those that live on the wrong side of the tracks. This is all to say that there’s definitely a Tom Waits influence on the lyrics as well, but not in a way that’s derivative, just in overall tone. It all works though, largely due to what great chemistry Godforbid has with the production of Quandary and Mackey, so that the music just has this familiar feel from the first moment you put the album on. The only real problem with the album is that for all of the good and interesting lyrical work that Godforbid is doing on this album, he still feels the need to sprinkle in a few dick jokes that only seem to be there for shock value. I don’t say this as a prude, but as someone that thinks that Godforbid clearly has the talent that he doesn’t need to resort to shock tactics in his lyrics. If these lines were provocative in some way, that would be one thing, but saying that someone could suck Satan’s dick if they don’t mind the taste isn’t all that thought-provoking or funny, its clearly there just to try to ruffle some feathers. It’s an unfortunate blemish on an otherwise strong album.

Jesus Chrysler isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot to like here. Godforbid has a pretty unique sound and has a lot of charisma on the mic. When he trusts himself to weave together a narrative or discuss philosophy, the album is pretty strong. When he wavers from those strengths, the album suffers.