Pitchfork

Personally, I prefer a little more punch behind the beat (especially in a song with a title like "Damage"), but Joe Beats' production works well enough by allowing Sage Francis' witticisms to envelope the listener. Lyrics like the oft-quoted, "I go to Fugazi shows requesting Minor Threat songs," and, "I'm not left-wing or right-wing/ I'm the middle finger," illustrate the type of damage being done here. Much like the hip-hop outfits Francis constantly alludes to (De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest), he's more about breaking and entering your mind than he is simple armed robbery. Francis' tactics go beyond even that, though. His cadences consistently elaborate on the tame rhythms behind them, while cleverly stacked rhyme schemes produce an impressive sense of friction. It's refreshing to hear genuinely menacing personalities who don't feel obliged to lumber along inebriated, weighed down by Uzis and gold chains. Still, the end product (which relies too much on Francis' skills) comes across a tad stiff; you could escape its wrath if you wanted to. "