Metermaids is the Brooklyn-based duo of Sentence and Swell. They’ve been getting a lot of attention lately, particularly from Sage Francis, who signed them to Strange Famous Records. On their label debut, they get a couple of guest verses from Francis himself, plus Buck 65. They’ve also got Rob Swift scratching and 9th Wonder producing tracks on the album. With all of this help, the album certainly sounds good, but I’m left wondering who Metermaids are, and what exactly makes them special.

9th Wonder knows how to produce, and Rob Swift knows how to scratch and mix. We’ve known this for years. But what about Metermaids themselves? As lyricists and performers, I can’t say anything that stands out about them. They’ve got decent chemistry, and switch back and forth on the mic well. However, there is an overcompensation of working class New York references throughout the album that makes me wonder about the two artists background. I don’t know what position I’m in to make this claim, as a Texan transplanted in the Midwest, but something seems off about this album. Normally, I don’t bat an eye when listening to New York emcees describe their hometown, but there’s something about a song like “Graveyard Shift,” and lines like “Peace to my peoples in the warehouse, midnight junkies itching to tear their hair out,” that seems distant and false. I also get this feeling when they use the phrase “cherry reds” to describe police and ambulance lights. It sounds like their New York-ness is being performed, not related through music naturally. Every time I do get drawn into the album, it’s for the extracurricular activity. “Kill the Crow” is an interesting song, but the interest stems from audio clips describing interesting observations about humans relationships with crows, and solid verses from Sage Francis and Buck 65.

This is all to say I still don’t know how I feel about Metermaids. Rooftop Shake is enjoyable, but it doesn’t stand out. The biggest risk in working with established artists is getting outshined by the veterans, and that’s what happened here.