Review��Pain Relievaz gets busy with new CD - Weekly Specialty Beer Report

Brewery Age--At Max's, a Baltimore bar, Dogfish Head will be holding a beer tasting and soul food throw-down this July 31. The Delaware micro-brewery will, most likely, bring along their best-tasting ales. However, what makes this event different from other tastings is that they will also be bringing a unique product that they claim sets them apart from other competitors. At Max's, Dogfish Head will be bringing skills.

President/founder Sam Calagione and lead brewer Bryan Selders (known on the street as Grandmaster I.B.U. and D.J. LIL Guy, respectively) are presenting their brew-rap group-The Pain Relievaz-and debuting the group's new e.p., Check Your Gravity. As the people of Baltimore taste the brew, they can hear the brewers' flow in a mini-concert.

Modern Brewery Age has obtained a bootleg of the CD from a New York vendor, and here you will find an exclusive preview.

With their new extended play release, the Pain Relievaz make the claim that they are "the finest beer-geek-hip-hop group of our generation." We can't really argue.

They certainly stay on topic. With such tracks as "Brewers Bling-Bling," "The Worst Brewday Ever" and "I Got Busy with an A-B Salesgirl," the Pain Relievaz paint an illuminating picture of the life of a brewer. Their crusade is to combat the sales of "the man," otherwise known as the big three--A-B, Coors and Miller. Their idea is to capitalize on a genre of music that matches the spirit of their product.

"Hip-hop has become a mode of protest and affirmation that transcends gender, race, and religion," says a recent Pain Relievaz press release. "[We] are celebrating the protest against thin, light, watery beer and affirming the groundswell of interest in full flavored, ballsy beers. 2002 marked the first time in 5 years that the growth of small breweries (3.4%) outpaced the growth of the big three breweries (2.6%)."

Lauryn Hill, Eminem and Freeway (a Philadelphian rapper whose beard, required by Sunni faith, has set off a fad along the post-9/11 East Coast) have proved the first statement correct. The challenge for the Pain Relievaz is making the music work for them.

To their credit, the Dogfish Head rhymers have the right market and period down. They're Old School, as their fifth track implies. They aren't current in the style, but those that are hip to the latest Hot 97 trends--urban markets--aren't typically down with craft beers. On the other hand, there is an appreciation for micros among the "jam band" scene, which bleeds into a developing alternative hip-hop that features such acts as Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious--which have a distinctly old-school flavor.

A quick listen through Check Your Gravity will recall the early Beastie Boys, but the beats are slower and less-sophisticated. On this timeline, the PRs are nearly primordial. Imagine Run DMC tapping on a mash tun.

This release is a novelty, but in the most noble sense. Even the slowest, most formulaic and monotonous song, "Brewers Bling-Bling," is still a hoot because it replaces the firearms and perks of the hustle with the PR's own industry's equipment ("we'll keep a brew log so there won't be no confusion/because our mash cycle is a multi-step infusion") and toys (bikes, kayaks, hiking socks, disc golf "drivers" and "putters").

"We Are the Pain Relievaz" is critically their best cut. Funkmaster IBU caps off a two-minute verse with the poetic, sentimental lines: "... a word to the haters and the Philistines/while off-center ales may have been our scheme/my off-center girl help me live my dream."

As I hinted earlier, there is a chance that the Pain Relievaz--especially with the immediacy of a live show--can develop a symbiosis between product identity and market identity with the novelty of brewers who brew their own (musical) joints. They boast similar promotional mini-concerts at venues in Philly, D.C. and the birthplace of "their music"--NYC (check dogfish.com for details). But as far as shelling out $8 for a copy, make sure and see the show first. Their beer is still the Pain Relievaz biggest ally, and their success might depend on how much of it you drink.

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