No Kings, by Doomtree

Keeping in stride with the ethos conveyed by recent releases from crew members P.O.S. and Sims, Doomtree brazenly scatter their forward momentum theses across the 12 tracks of No Kings. With five hyper-literate and boundary-testing emcees in the mix, the grand umbrella of progress helps to unify the disparate verses and tangents pushed forward.

Doomtree's head-in-the-clouds writing is not without its moments of good old-fashioned existentialism. "Truthfully I was blind to the deep end, until that piece of us went and died that weekend," Cecil Otter spills out on the solar flare of "Beacon." Cecil further explores a vague and profound emptiness while trading verses with the beautiful mind of Dessa on the pensive "Little Mercy."

The production team of Lazerbeak, Paper Tiger, and Cecil concoct organic and delightfully abrasive soundscapes. "All this is ours, it's gonna be what we make it," P.O.S. relays on the triumphant chorus of "Bolt Cutter," a perfect example of the darker elements of Doomtree's production nestled between inviting keys. The punk-leaning, DIY aesthetic of the crew hits hard on tracks such as "String Theory" and "The Grand Experiment." It's not necessarily a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps credo, but these Minnesotan wordsmiths place high value on getting one's hands dirty and have an impressive cult following to show for it.

• Album: No Kings
• Artist: Doomtree
• Label: Doomtree Records
• Songs: (1) No Way (2) Bolt Cutter (3) Bangarang (4) Beacon (5) Punch-Out (6) Little Mercy (7) The Grand Experiment (8) String Theory (9) Team The Best Team (10) Gimme The Go (11) Own Yours (12) Fresh New Trash