Firewatermarks Tash, J-Ro, and E-Swift’s final album after 10-plus years of perpetual inebriation and guest shots from some of the biggest names in the industry. Strange that a trio so focused on getting twisted in clubland finally produced an album that may actually spawn a club single. It’s one final desperate dash to cash in on a genuine club heater. Firewater, with its winding, hypnotic E-Swift production, boasts plenty of sheen and shimmer. But it’s mostly just smoke and mirrors. At its core, Firewater (out January 24) offers up the same familiar punch-drunk kids running their jaws. And after 10 years of rhyming, their frat-boy ethos hasn’t matured. Cuts like “Party Yr Ass Off,” with its Epicurean “Drink, smoke, party” chorus, come off as unwitting Alkaholiks parodies. Even Danger Mouse’s open drums and crescendoed cymbals on “Chaos” somehow fall flat. After fivealbums, the boys may be sobering up, but Firewater stings like the post-binge migraine.
