Quality Control

The refrains and horn tracks of "Quality Control" are all the ammo you'll need in your next argument about the rejuvenation of hip-hop.

This is a truly freeflowing masterpiece that stands shoulder to shoulder with Mos Def's 'Black On Both Sides.'

In the hands of a lesser group, such retro affectations would be little more than a clever gimmick... In the hands of Jurassic 5's four gifted rappers and two enormously promising DJs and producers, however, it's a brilliant musical strategy that draws on the energy and enthusiasm of the old school to take hip-hop in new, exciting, unexpected directions. A flat-out great full-length debut.

Quality Control hits all of the same highs as Jurassic 5's excellent EP of three years earlier...

Moves with a quick tempo that whips through the album's 15 songs and assorted skits.... There's something innately joyous about many of the group's songs, whether it's how the J5 MCs play verbal double-dutch over the pulsating "Jurass Finish First" or the assembly of sampled snippets that drive the playground anthem "Monkey Bars."

It is truly exciting stuff from a group that represents a sagging genre's vitally bright future.

Spare as the overall sound of the album is, the interplay between the rhythms, samples and voices is vibrant and eloquent...

There are echoes of every good movement in rap history on Quality Control, from old-school to Def Jam to Native Tongues all the way to Wu-Tang...

What sets the Jurassic 5 apart from the dead sea of generic hip-hop crews is their sheer charisma.... Quality Control serves as a fine follow-up to the Jurassic 5's self-titled 1999 EP, with more than its fair share of top-shelf tracks.

The lyrics are down-to-earth and positive -- almost wholesome -- but Quality Control's overall vibe is uncompromisingly intense and hard to resist.

As they proved on their debut EP a couple of years back, Jurassic aren't just Furious Five retro: They summon visions of lightly rocking grace like "I'll Take You There," the intro to "Dance to the Music," or the Harlem Globetrotters passing the ball around to "Sweet Georgia Brown." Like the more serious underground hip-hop acts, though, in the end they're not quite sure what to do with themselves beyond boasting.