Len with Styles of Beyond

The Paradise

Oct. 12

Hip-hop? The "Steal My Sunshine" crew? You gotta be kidding me. But if there's anything Len excels at, it's defying expectations. They've got a female vocalist in a male-dominated genre, they've got white guys who rap, they put on a melodic show with turntables, not guitars, they've got a sugary pop single but prefer hip-hop beats and to top it all off, they're Canadian and they don't let you forget it.

If the crowd went in expecting sugary confections like the summer radio staple "Steal My Sunshine"--and it's pretty safe to assume it did--a surprise was waiting inside the Paradise. It began with Styles of Beyond, an underground hip-hop group from L.A. While DJ Cheapshot of SOB (an unfortunate self-inflicted acronym) laid down some tight beats, the audience seemed to be waiting for more radio-friendly action. Which is not to say that Styles of Beyond is that far from national exposure--MCs Ryu and Tak Bir's smooth rapping styles foretell a possible MTV explosion some time in the future. "Spies Like Us" was a standout song; at times the other songs blurred into each other for lack of decipherable choruses. Still, SOB displayed formidable rhyming skills and a bit of stage presence as well. Hip-hop was in the house.

And believe it or not, it stuck around for the enigmatic Len. DJ Moves and Canada's own Drunkness Monster, the group's two turntable maestros, warmed the crowd up with a few selections, including NWA's "Straight Outta Compton." Then the four stars of Len showed up, mikes in hand and adrenaline flowing. The Burger Pimp (a.k.a. Marc Costanzo), D. Rock, Planet Pea and Sharon (complete with backpack) connected with the crowd from the start. When told by a rogue audience member to shut up, the Pimp promptly returned the sentiment and started the next song.

For a set comprising lots of rapping, a little shouting and even less actual singing, the music was refreshingly, well, musical. There were recognizable melodies and sinuous bass-lines, beats to groove to and even a little harmony. Even better, the songs were pretty innovative and incredibly upbeat. This was the most aggressively happy hip-hop ever, with song titles like "Feelin' Alright" and "Beautiful Day?" Len also has a penchant for the robotic-voice vocoder effect, and they made use of it several times, invoking memories of New Wave pop.

On stage, brother and sister Marc and Sharon were as disturbingly huggy as they are in the video for "Steal My Sunshine." Aside from that, the three guys scrambled around gamely, while Sharon was content to remain anchored in place while bobbing up and down. Len seemed genuinely shocked at their warm reception--in the encore Marc remarked that they usually don't have to come out again because, "we're running out the back 'cause they're chasing us away." I don't necessarily blame these hostile crowds--what if you went to Britney Spears and got Wu-Tang? But by closing their ears to the beats just because they're unexpected, they're missing some great fun.

Onto the song. You know the one. That Jackson 5-esque number, the one with the chirpy girl and the raspy guy. They put some rap in it. Yeah, that's right. Two rap breakdowns: same beat, different vibe. Don't worry, the rest of the song was the same, a direct translation from album to club. But think about it. If Len could do that to their radio smash, imagine what they did to the rest of their songs. Just imagine.