Shitake Monkey in Billboard Magazine
What results when the studio nerds behind releases by Jennifer Lopez, Natasha Bedingfield and Michael Jackson, just to name a few, get together and make their own indie album? In the case of Shitake Monkey, one of the surprise hits of the year. Johnny Rodeo, Electric Pete and Chuck Brody are more bemused than bitter about their bubble-gum experiences and incorporate a good deal of that production sheen into the 17 Beastie Boys-by-way-of-Weezer tracks on “Street Beef.” A lot of the material is willfully silly (”Baby Baby”), but some of it is just good. Check out the wailing falsetto on the “calypsoul” number “Mad Monkey” or the Beach Boys-ish harmonies and organs on “Maybe Lady.” It’s all hummable, memorable and self-aware enough to keep the indie kids’ cool intact. —Kerri Mason