Northern State – Dying In Stereo

University graduates Julie Potash (who served on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 senatorial campaign), Correne Spero and Robyn Goodmark became rappers for a joke. Yet this album isn’t one. Staccato beats navigate fast-moving samples and the trio’s breathlessly vituperative raps. There’s a nimble touch to the see-saw rhymes on “A Thousand Words” and “At The Party”, while sly humour abounds. Impressive stuff, but like the Beastie Boys’ tinnitus-inducing whines, Northern State’s gonzoid yelps suffer from diminishing returns.