It almost feels mean-spirited to call P.O.S. rap-rock, so sullied is that name from millennial mook-rock, but as he proudly interpolates Fugazi and Notorious B.I.G. on Never Better, it becomes obvious that this term is one he's determined to redefine. Track titles like Drumroll (We're All Thirsty) and Terrorish don't disappoint, all churlish guitar thuds, chest-thumping choruses and rapid-fire rhymes; it feels like the Linkin Park aesthetic done right, which is, really, a strange artistic achievement, but one handily accomplished. These hot flashes of intensity are nicely contrasted by neighbors like the darkly soothing Optimist (We Are Not for Them) and the satisfying boom-bap of Savion Glover, giving the album some assured ebbs in intensity. Better still is the bombastically chintzy Goodbye, which sounds like the type of beat Just Blaze would save for his very favorite client. But this is staunchly P.O.S.' show, and as an MC he's eager to dazzle. While his big emphatic Midwestern enunciation recalls Eminem, his emo-rap fixations are more in line with El-P or Cadence Weapon. He's fixated, obsessed even, with his friends, particularly those who've abused his trust, and constructs his record from the pensive moments of solitude between vainglorious barnburners. Between this brutal bleating and the general anger of the production, the record is dank and punishing on the ears -- probably just as P.O.S. intended, but still a step or two shy of the sonic maturity he so yearns to lend the subgenre. ~ Clayton Purdom, Rovi

1		Let It Rattle
2		Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)
3		Savion Glover
4		Purexed
5		Grave Shovel Let's Go
6		Goodbye
7		Get Smokes
8		Been Afraid
9		Low Light Low Life
10		The Basics (Alright)
11		Out of Category
12		Optimist (We Are Not for Them)
13		Terrorish
14		Never Better
15		The Brave and the Snake