The Miserable
Git Next Door
By
Montener The
Menace
Back in May of 2021 I published my review for Anyone Home?
The awesome follow up to the debut I Have A Hidden Hobby from Montener The
Menace. At that time, it was suggested that Anyone Home? could well be
Montener’s final album but, here we are, some nineteen months later and the man from Croyden is back and we are about to
be treated to his next album, The Miserable Git Next Door.
The album is released on Montener’s own Hidden Hobby Records
and, as with his previous albums, it see’s a plethora of producers and guest
artists joining him. I have reviewed both I Have A Hidden Hobby and Anyone Home?
both of which have been instant underground Hip Hop classics. Can we expect
something similar from what even Montener himself suggests is his best work…?
Well, let’s see shall we. Join me as I breakdown The
Miserable Git Next Door…
Montener doesn’t mess around as he instantly takes us to
meet The Miserable Git Next Door. The albums title track is produced by
Jack Cliff, who brings together strings, organ notes and drums to give us this
easy-going vibe that just seems to carry us along, letting us focus on the
lyrics. Here Montener spins a tale that seems to hover between unsettling and
comedic. He is that miserable git next door who wants to be left alone. When
new neighbours move in things go downhill rapidly, ending with an all-out war
between the two households but, you are left wondering who was truly at fault,
the neighbours, or that miserable git next door. With those thought’s still
rattling around your head, that train of thought is broken by the faint
whistling of a spaghetti western, before the beats drops with drums, bass,
vocal samples, and slick cuts, produced by g-man, the vibe is a deep melodic
head nod sound. A perfect backdrop for Montener to be joined by A-F-R-O and
Skyzoo for Tomorrow’s Never Promised. There is a profound message here
for all three emcees and its pretty simple, live, love and laugh for the day,
this moment that you are living right now because there is no guarantee that
you’ll see another sunrise so, live every day like it’s your last. It’s a
sobering thought for sure but, one that’s delivered here by three emcees who
know how to make their lyrics hit home. now your mind is deep in contemplation,
your mind is open and Montener only has to utter one word grab your attention,
that word is Gunslinger. Guitar and whistling herald the return of the Gunslinger
(High Noon Pt. 2), the beat hits with tinges of bass (produced by Da
Vigilante) as we are treated to what happened to the Gunslinger in the
aftermath of Anyone Home’s, High Noon. Our anti-hero is now out on his own,
with his mind on a new life he heads for one last score before settling down
but, that story is for another day…
Sliding Doors Pt. 1 is up next and Red Master’s
production gives us a reflective vibe with strings and drums providing the
musical backdrop. Montener The Menace is in full story telling mode here as he
details the story of an inner-city youth from a broken home who gets caught up
in the gang culture. By the time the track fades out we are left wondering what
will happen to Audley in part 2. With two stories leaving us hanging in the
balance our minds are left with a tinge of anxious anticipation and JL Beats production
on Decisions tugs at out frayed nerves with some high-pitched jazzy
piano alongside drums that seek to pound those split nerve endings. The
Legendary UK emcee Skinnyman, Reks and Guilty Simpson join Montener on the
track that speaks on all the decisions we make in life. These decisions can
take us down a great many roads, some lead to positive outcomes and others to
more negative ones. How life plays out hinges on those decisions, there are no right,
or wrong answers here just paths we walk based on what life puts before us, so
remember, chose wisely. Drums and jazzy piano vibes once more form the basis
for Hate To Love, where Barry Manalog gives us a more upbeat feel to
proceedings. Here Montener takes us on an often-lighthearted journey through
the Yin and Yang of what it is to experience Love and Hate as we walk through
life and it is so true what he says in that those experiences that bring us
Love, give us so much while anything that brings hate takes so much from us. The
key thing here is to eclipse the hate with love, that will make life sure a
positive experience.
Moving in to the second half of the album, we find Montener
The Menace keeping our mind spinning like those old energy meters or a 78 rpm
record. Jack Cliff brings us a mariachi style vibe of horns, drums, and guitars
for Teachered Artist which finds Montener schooling us to the pitfalls
of working as a teacher. There is plenty to make you grin as Montener warns
against making teaching a career. To polish things off here there is a nice
sprinkling of cuts from Jabbathakut. Strings, piano and drums, from
Domingo, merge to create a deep vibe
that has that contrasting, Juxtaposition feel with the sounds of
marching and cuts that also pervade the track. Verbz joins Montener The Menace
here as they combine to drop a story that shows that its not always what you do
in a moment but, how you look or conduct yourself is what can get you into
trouble with the law. So, many times the those who are guilty of a crime are
overlooked in favour of those who just dress a certain way or act a certain way
but, may never have actually done anything wrong, this is just antagonistic and
serves to create a situation that is negative, where it never needed to be. With
our minds racing, from the injustice we just heard, strings fade in and ease
our outrage. Guitar and drums drop, and Covert Pawns production gets our heads
nodding. Montener becomes the Movie Decade Crusader as he takes us on
journey through the movies he has enjoyed growing up. He expertly weaves the
very best of the 80’s and 90’s movies into this one. It’s like a trip down
memory lane for some of us older heads.
Moving into the final quarter of the album the one Keith
Murrey provides the intro and production from Roccwell brings us this heavy
sound of bass, drums, and horns that really makes you wanna stand up and jump
around. This one is all about Montener The Menace using his wordplay skills to
do two things, which is to entertain us while doing what he does best, Running
My Mouth. With our energy levels pushing into the red, a soulful intro
allows us a short breather before the Jack Cliff beats drops with horns, guitar
and pounding drums. We are nodding our heads once more as a posse style cut
drops which see’s an incredible line-up of some of cream of emcees join Montener.
BVA, Sean Peng, Phoenix Da Icefire, Ramson Badbonez, Tesla’s Ghost, Genesis
Elijah, Frisco Boogie, Cracker Jon, Mick Swagger, boodah, Cosm, Slippy Skills,
Blade and Joe Publik all drop bars that are all About Love and the
impact it has in live. It’s all about what you love doing, what brings you love
or perhaps a lack of love and even whether you can see love around you or not. With
a penultimate track like that how do you finish things off? Simple, you get
Mighty Mindless Cartoons to drop a heavy pounding beat of drums, cymbals, and
horns for a quick little Outro of the chorus from The Miserable Git Next
Door, nothing else is needed, end of…
So, let’s get one thing straight, The Miserable Git Next
Door is one hell of a ride from start to finish. Montener The Menace has, once
again, tabled another album that is a potential classic. He shows that he
matures from one album to the next and displays wordplay skills that show no
sigh of letting up, the more he produces. He is just as comfortable on track
with guest artists, as he is on his solo tracks. Mixing up the subject matter with
tracks that are based in reality and personal experience to those that are just
for fun and displaying the depth of his vocal skills and flows.
Bringing in a wealth of producers adds such a depth of
musical backdrops allowing Montener and the guest artists to fully display
their skills whilst fully complimenting each other. The production here is
second to none really and helps keep the album flowing while systematically
allowing you to focus on the vocals with ease. I can’t speak on the production
without mentioning that all the cuts on the album are performed by the
legendary UK turntablist Jabbathakut, who’s skills really do serve to dot all
the I’s in the Hip Hop masterclass.
The guest artists that feature on the album range from up-and-coming
status right up to legendary status and span both sides of the pond. The
quality of all those artists really speak for themselves and need nothing
further except that they add the icing to this perfectly cooked up Hip Hop
cake.
All in all, what I see here is a UK emcee who always
delivers quality and who has the respect of his peers the world over. Let’s
face it here, it’s not everyone who can tempt Blade to drop a feature, you
gotta have a special quality to do that and also good to see another legendary
UK emcee in Skinnyman feature here also. The consistent quality that Montener The
Menace delivers is a credit to himself and the UK scene and I for one look
forward to possibility of him dropping more down the line. I mean, he can’t
leave us hanging on the escapades of the Gunslinger or the outcome of Sliding
Doors.
Everyone knows I don’t like giving my reviews a score. For
me I want my words and the music to do all the talking, and The Miserable Git
Next Door is no exception. But, if I really had to score this one, I could not
give it any less than a 9, maybe even a 9.2 HA HA, because I love the drive,
the vocals, the quality and the work ethic of Montener as an emcee and when you
mix that with top quality production, Jabbathakut and some top-notch features
then how can you score it any less.
Montener The Menace is constantly pushing himself to always
be another rung closer to perfection with every release. He is all about
quality over quantity, pushing the boundaries of his creativity to always
deliver what people want to hear.
The Miserable Git Next Door is out today on digital and
limited CD versions. I highly recommend that you grab one of the limited CD
copies which gives you two bonus tracks, the High Noon Jabbathakut remix and
Sliding Doors Pt. 2, giving you the chance to find out what happens to Audley.
Huge thanks to the man himself, Montener The Menace, for
putting this my way.
On That Note,
I’m outta here,
Steve
LINKS
Get The Miserable Git Next Door from Bandcamp Here:
https://hiddenhobbyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-miserable-git-next-door
Hidden Hobby Records on Bandcamp:
https://hiddenhobbyrecords.bandcamp.com/
VIDEOS
About Love Official Video (on 05:21 Official YouTube)
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