Jobie's Bite-Sized Music Reviews #27: Gmail and the Restraining Orders (EP) - Death Grips
- arrangednoisefan
- Jun 8, 2022
- 2 min read
Recommended
Gmail and the Restraining Orders is a 2019* sound collage and noise rock EP by the experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It is their fourth EP, released after Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix). Its original purpose was to serve as an opening soundscape to live Death Grips performances, later being broadcast on the NTS Radio website on June 21, 2019.
The EP can best be thought of as “Zach Hill: The EP”. Why? The EP features an endless (and I really men endless, I'll talk about that in a bit) barrage of high bpm drumming by Zach Hill. This drumming never stops throughout the entirety of the 28 minute EP. This separates it from the band's other lengthy EP, Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix), in that the drums on this track are the only element on the instrumental.
Also unlike Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix), the EP is not a compilation of songs that were merged into one song. It is one, continuous, endless stream of Death Grips (but mostly Zach Hill), with not one break throughout the entirety of the EP. Due to these qualities of the EP, I only recommend this track for the biggest of Death Grips fans, who have listened to everything that was released prior to this track. Even more so than Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix), this track is not recommended as someone's first Death Grips experience – especially since a lot of Death Grips elements are absent from this track (Andy Morin doesn't even play keyboards in this one).
I do have a few criticisms of this track – there is not much variety in the instrumental throughout the 28 minute run time (as mentioned before, Zach Hill's drumming appears to be the only thing present on the entirety of the instrumental), which does get a bit repetitive as the track goes on. MC Ride's vocals are unintelligible, since the vocals seem to have been buried beneath the drums in the mix. Other than that, there is nothing wrong with this track.
Much like Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix), I do not have a favorite track for this EP (since it is only a single track). However, the drumming that kicks in at 16:00 sounds pretty awesome.
Overall, Gmail and the Restraining Orders is a great EP from Death Grips. However, I only recommend it for the most passionate of Death Grips fans, since it is an endless stream of Death Grips, that doesn't have a single break throughout the entirety of the 28 minute runtime. It is certainly not recommended for first-timers, especially since it is not a good example of the majority of Death Grips' discography. Though the EP struggles in some areas, it is still, overall, a great track.
*Released digitally in 2021.
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