The hip-hop duo Atmosphere, an unlikely Minnesota musical success from the get-go, has become an underground institution on the strength of rhyme-spitter Slug's sharp tongue and sharper wit. A lanky, stylish miscreant with a gift for getting ladies' attention, Slug is rap's version of Vince Vaughn's character in Swingers, occasionally dropping emotional sob stories that are much more than well-laid traps. On You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having, he doesn't disappoint, dispensing a series of verbal lashings about weak MCs along with some poignant asides on cuts like the disturbing "That Night" and the anti-drug missive "Panic Attack." But the best part of this CD is Ant's solid production. Building tracks around bare-bones rhythms and sparse but effective licks, like the fiery guitar riffs on "Smart Went Crazy" and the bluesy vocal samples and piano chords on "Say Hey There," Ant is efficient and deadly. The main misstep on You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having is its release date: an album this infectious contains a few tracks that would have been banging summer anthems.
