Urban review: Newham Generals, Generally Speaking

It apparently took three years to make, but much of this debut album from Dizzee Rascal's proteges sounds as though it's been tossed off in the last three minutes. Lyrically, several songs follow familar patterns: staccato flows boasting about cash, violence and sex (none more explicitly than in the despicable hymn to group sex, Bell Dem Slags). By far the best verse is Dizzee's guest appearance on Violence. Musically, however, there's more going on. The abiding sound is one of revivified rave, revisiting British dance music of the mid-90s in the same way US producers such as Bangladesh and Kanye West have been approaching hip-hop of the same period. The single, Heads Get Mangled, matches filtered vocals to a creepy fairground scale. Supadupe is a dark, heavy anthem that at long last makes the link between east London and the Dirty South.