To me, Aesop Rock's career can be separated into two distinct eras: (1) his time spent in New York City (during which he released Float up to Bazooka Tooth), and (2) his move to California (the location from which he has released None Shall Pass, Are You Gonna Eat That?, (a collaborative effort with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz under the moniker Hail Mary Mallon), and, on July 10, will release his latest album, Skelethon).

 Those albums produced in NYC started off sullen, only to grow more and more apocalyptic. But upon his west coast arrival, Aesop Rock seemed to adopt (forgive the world's worst pun) a sunnier disposition. ... And this first single, "Zero Dark Thirty," contains a reference that dichotomy: "Hello, here's where a tale of caution/ Pounds coffin nails to bootlegs of Hawkwind." Aesop dropping the name of God's, AKA Lemmy Kilmister's (yes, that is an Airheads reference), original band, Hawkwind, shows he has lightened up slightly and is no longer as dark or gritty as, say, Motorhead/he once was.

But my subjective parsing of bars is beside the point. Check the track: