Slow Indie punk rap rock. "Orange 9mm" have been doing a sort of rap hybrid a lot longer than most of today's Korn-fed rap-core graduates. The difference is "Orange 9mm" is a tight indie-rock 3 piece and adheres more to rock dynamics than big metal chunk fests and sampler tricks.

The disk's opener, "When You Lie," starts things out with a punchy delivery and a steely rumble of bass, and is one of the stronger tracks on this offering. There is a subtle under worked charm about the minimal instrumentation. One singer, one guitar, one bass and some drums, which is minimal for most rock that aspires to some level of "rap," and most noticeable is the lack of any DJ scratching. But this lack of sonics does occasionally lend to a dry song that drags when too much time is spent on the lyrical content.

"Orange 9mm" are best when they combine the raps with a rock hook ("When You Lie", "Pretend I'm Human"), for when the music is just a backdrop for competent, but not commanding raps, the song gets tiresome and forgettable (see the drooping pace of "Touching Skies"). The street poet delivery of "Dragons (you know I love you)" is more in line with a free form coffee house type oration, and takes the minimal music idea to it's furthest.

"Orange 9mm" could take a lesson from the new school in the art of the big break, for a good chunk of the music comes off dismissible. And when the music is boring, it doesn't matter what the singer is representing because the whole vibe gets lost - unless your whole trip is the rap angle. But, for the most part, "Orange 9mm" are solidly within the rock band method, so the music needs to be examined as closely as the lyrics. It's not that the individual ideas are so offensive, but "Orange 9mm" tend to dwell on the same thought for much too long.

Still, even in it's most mediocre moment, "Orange 9mm" are doing something slightly different, and that in itself is worthy of a listen. Whether there is enough driving charm to make this disk a highly repeated listen, I don't think so. With the lackluster tempos and lack of driving energy there's a great sense of "almost" in too many of the tracks, but the ones that work, do so on a level that completely justify the "Orange 9mm" trip.