ACL Review: Banks & Steelz

Rap-rock: one of the most despised and embarrassing musical sub-genres of all time. Ever since Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst demanded we give him something to break in 1999, it’s hard to believe anybody would willingly pursue a style so tragically unhip. Yet that’s exactly what Banks & Steelz sold Friday afternoon on the giant Samsung stage.

Granted, the duo – Interpol frontman Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA – plus Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick (“a human metronome,” offered the rapper) put forth a sleeker, more nuanced take on the mash-up than their angsty predecessors. The trio churned out workmanlike renditions of all but one track from their debut, Anything but Words, a curious amalgam of sleek, futuristic post-punk and blunt-force rapping. And let’s get this out of the way:

Paul Banks can’t sing.

His nasally voice is devoid of emotion. Meanwhile, his choruses amount to little more than bathroom stall poetry (“If all is fair in love and war, what are you keeping score for?”), and his guitar work is pedestrian at best, Edge-like at worst. He remained firmly anchored behind his microphone for the duration of the set, hardly engaging the swelling, sun-kissed crowd.

Thus, the artistic and entertainment quotient fell squarely on RZA to ignite the audience, and damned if he didn’t try. When he wasn’t saddled behind a keyboard, the Brooklyn MC flailed his arms and ran in place, showing off his muscular flow between swigs of Grey Goose vodka and emerging as the duo’s de facto spokesman.

“The thing about music is the energy you give to us is the energy we’re gonna give back to you,” he told the crowd. “Fuck that shit! Do that shit! Fire it up!”

The audience roared in approval, as Banks contented himself with strumming in the background.