CAGE HELL’S WINTER DEFINITIVE JUX

My first impulse would be to slap any rapper who spit the lines "Walk like I’m from the hood/Hair like an indie-rock band," but it’s tough to dismiss Cage when he’s got actual indie-rockers Matt Sweeney and James McNew of Yo La Tengo playing on the track. It’s a microcosm of Hell’s Winter: Cage delivering a number of slap-worthy lines and being redeemed by the production. On "Shoot Frank," his whining about how he’s "still attracted to his beautiful depression" is placed atop a minimal piano beat by Rjd2 and sandwiched between the mellifluous hooks of Head Automatica’s Darryl Palumbo. And his uninspired political rants on "Grand Ol’ Party Crash" ("I will not just follow the herd!") and Jello Biafra’s shitty Dubya impression are salvaged by an increasingly rare production turn from DJ Shadow. Someone at the label must’ve seen this coming: the album is accompanied by a second disc of all the instrumentals.

Cage | Middle East downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | Dec 10 | 617.864.EAST