Chaotic Sounds Emerge From Crazy Town

Rock ‘n’ roll requires finesse, which is true even for the crowded field of bands fusing metal and hip-hop--bands, blending hooks and brutality, such as the hugely successful Limp Bizkit. Crazy Town shares some of that same thunderous energy but hasn’t yet mastered the balance of aggression and memorable grooves.

During the Southern California group’s hourlong homecoming show at the Palace on Saturday, vocals were frantic, jumbled, overlapping, raging and mostly incomprehensible. Rappers Shifty Shellshock and Epic Mazur were once straight-ahead hip-hop devotees before adding layers of hard rock by recruiting guitarists and other live players. And though the band’s recent “The Gift of Game” album is crisply recorded, that mix was rarely convincing on stage.

The band’s two front men displayed more polished rapping abilities than many in their genre, but all the noise around them frequently got in the way at the Palace. Even worse was a dependence on tired, predictable messages on decadence and doom. And the band’s current hit “Butterfly” sounded uncomfortably close to Limp Bizkit’s recent “Take a Look Around” without adding anything new.

When Shellshock and Mazur rapped against a more minimalist soundtrack, they were most effective. Elsewhere, the rappers fed off the full band’s volume and energy and were practically moshing on stage.

Despite the dearth of originality, the incessant hip-hop beat kept the set rolling forward, though it was wasted on meaningless catch phrases (“I’m so drunk, I’m so high”). When the band dropped the muscle-flexing in favor of an occasional hook, Crazy Town could land at a deep, satisfying sound. But that wasn’t nearly often enough.