Audiopile Review: Aussie instrumental soul-funk outfit Pro-Teens, once again led by the busy drummer Hudson Whitlock, who also mans the kit in Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef, return after a half decade dormant period, dishing a funky ode to the late MF DOOM on their newest. Reaching all the way back to DOOM’s KMD days and up through his various projects that began at Operation Doomsday, the Pro-Teens reveal their knowledge and reverence by selecting deep cuts from his expansive catalog, bringing to life instrumental versions of the productions that lit up the hip-hop underground during his impeachable run. Admittedly, this subgenre of funk outfits reconstructing the sampled elements of classic hip-hop tracks has become a bit tedious over the years, but Pro-Teens undermine the typical staid renditions with a clear-eyed (re)vision, revealing the particular genius behind the sampling prowess of DOOM—not to mention Madlib and Danger Mouse, legends in their own right. But make no mistake, DOOM’s instantly recognizable style punches through the hardest. From the stutter-stop Sade sampling of “Doomsday”, the Cortex-centred mystic soul-jazz of “One Beer” and the sped-up Isaac Hayes loop that makes up “?” (listed here as “Charsnuka” as it appears on his Special Herbs series), Pro-Teens dissection and reassembly shed light on the complexities of his clever touch. Ok, we could’ve used something pulled from King Geedorah, but MF TEEN should satisfy the nerdiest of DOOM heads out there looking to hear his beats come to life.

***

MF TEEN: Your Concurrence In The Above Is Assumed recognises the legacy of rap’s Illest Villain, traversing MF DOOM’s discography and personas, flipping selections from Madvillain, MM.. FOOD, Viktor Vaughan, Danger Doom and more, taking care to ensure recognisable tunes such as Doomsday and Curls are represented alongside more obscure cuts such as The Gas Face, the Third Bass song that featured the first recorded verse from MF DOOM in his original moniker of Zev Love X of the ill-fated 90s NYC rap group KMD.

Helmed by Hudson Whitlock, prolific drummer and percussionist of Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef, Melbourne’s The Pro-Teens is a collective of instrumentalists making weirdo instrumental soul records. Drawing from the community of musicians from bands in the College Of Knowledge orbit, The Pro-Teens’ incorporate the comic book stylings of DOOM and Kool Keith, the dark flavors of Gravediggaz and Wu-Tang Clan, and the cinematic composition of Galt MacDermot, culminating in an unorthodox patchwork of cinematic soul, boom-bap funk breaks and left-field instrumental textures.

“The diversity of tones, moods, feels and arrangements was an intentional act to mirror the diversity within DOOM’s own diverse musical vocabulary. We wanted to fluctuate between putting our own spin on DOOM’s classic tunes as well as staying true to the original source.” – Bandleader Hudson Whitlock aka Libby Clique-Baité.

The full-length album follows the Pro-Teens now collectible 7”s of The Pro-Teens’ renditions of Peachfuzz b/w One Beer and Doomsday b/w Curls, releases that built a feverous anticipation for the complete album.

MF TEEN: Your Concurrence In The Above Is Assumed comes after 2021’s Snooch Dodd & The Pro-Teens – I Flip My Life Every Time I Fly, which gained BBC6 Music’s Album Of The Day honors after its co-release by College Of Knowledge and UK tastemaker label Mr Bongo.