House Of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics) – House Of Pain – Released July 21st, 1992, Tommy Boy / XL Recordings
Fine Malt Lyrics is the 1992 debut album from LA-based hiphop group House of Pain. It was released on Tommy Boy Records in North America and, through some clever negotiating, received distribution across the pond by XL Recordings, (a label which was then best known for dance music acts like The Prodigy.)
The House of Pain were a California-based rap group consisting of MCs Everlast and Danny Boy, alongside DJ Lethal. Its members were part of a broader crew west coast crew which also included Funkdoobiest and Cypress Hill.
Both Funkdoobiest and Cypress Hill’s B-Real appear as guest rappers on the album while DJ Muggs provided many of the beats.
Muggs and DJ Lethal complement each other quite well, providing a rich platter of
signature blunted beats with double bass, crunchy beat combos and murky sound textures. The album also boasts three additional production appearances by Ralf The Funky Mexican, aka DJ Ralf M from Funkdoobiest.
Finally, rounding off the album, there’s a remix from New York’s Pete Rock, who also makes a brief appearance rapping.
Although the album officially has the eponymous title “House of Pain”, none of us called it that. If you write “House of Pain” on the top of the logo, and “Fine Malt Lyrics” underneath, you can’t blame us fans for getting the name wrong.
So for that reason I’ll be referring to the album as Fine Malt Lyrics because it’s what we’ve all been calling it for the past 32 years and it’s too late to change that now.
Shamrocks And Shenanigans
Everlast had previously been a member of Ice T’s Rhyme Syndicate before releasing a solo album, Forever Everlasting, two years prior. Although it was a quality effort, his 1990 debut album wasn’t a huge commercial success, prompting him to rethink his strategy.
That’s when he decided to team up with DJ Lethal, who had previously appeared on Forever Everlasting, along with his schoolfriend Danny Boy to form a new crew.
Two MCs and one DJ, all Caucasian. It soon became clear they were going to need a gimmick to stand out from all the wannabes in the post Vanilla Ice era.
So they decided to appropriate the rowdiest white culture they could think of – mine – and proceeded to take on the affectations of Irish-American rappers.
It was a cynical move but ultimately a clever one. Naturally record companies and the media in general would prove to be more than receptive to the idea of an all-white rap group with a green-dyed Fightin’ Irish motif.
And we’re all so glad they did.
Shunting the shamrocks and shenanigans to one side, Fine Malt Lyrics is a remarkable debut which also has the honour of featuring one of the finest hiphop anthems ever recorded.
And honestly, growing up in Ireland in the late 80s and early 90s we honestly had fuck all to shout about those days. But when the House of Pain came on the scene, we felt a swell of pride and happily accepted the group as our own.
Because if you’re proud to call yourself Irish, even if you’re surname’s Schrody and you sound about as Irish as Chief O’Hara, you get an automatic pass. Which is why whenever he told us to Jump Around, we all lept higher than every other fucker in Europe!
Here Comes The Pain
Salutations is an intro track that sets the tone, deep and bassy with a phat groove and an eerie unsettling mood…
“The time has come for everyone to clean up their own back yard, before they go knocking on their neighbours door.”
This intro actually appears in a scene from movie Kiss of Death starring Nicholas Cage, an underrated and forgotten classic that deserves to be up there with the most Nic Cage does Nic Cage movies.
The underling complains that “the bass is too heavy”, so Nic Cage then rightly proceeds to beat his ass down to our next track…
Jump Around.
Jump up, jump up.
And get down.
I mean c’mon, you know it. You love it. Everyone loves this song, it’s an all-time classic party tune. There should be an internationally-binding law mandating every DJ should own a copy or risk getting their licence to spin revoked.
Jump Around is a tune that should be sent out into outer space on the next NASA space probe. That way the aliens’ll know what kinda species they’re fucking with.
Of course it leans heavily into that whole Irish-American corned beef and cabbage bullshit that I keep coming back to whenever I talk about this group. Seriously, this is not a track one should be partying to after consuming vast quantities of cabbage.
Put Your Head Out has one of my favourite beats of all time, supplied with gusto by the legendary Muggs and made all the better by the inclusion of Cypress Hill’s B-Real as guest rapper.
In that sense this one feels more like a Cypress Hill track but Everlast’s still the star of the show here and delivers some classic lines, especially in his second verse.
Top O’ The Morning To Ya starts with the somewhat cringy line, “you see I’m Irish but I’m not a leprechaun”.
Well, technically speaking you’re neither but well, we love you anyway Everlast. Even when you freely admit to being “a descendant of Dublin”, we won’t hold that against you either. You still gets all our love.
DJ Lethal provides the beat this time around while scratching an old Cheech and Chong record in and out to help set the stoner tone.
Commercial 1 is a short interlude piece featuring dialogue from the movie the Island of Doctor Moreau, from which the group takes its name.
House And The Rising Sun is another Lethal joint featuring Son Doobie from Funkdoobiest while Everlast delivers the kind of lyrics would get you cancelled today, but that’s “what it is y’all.”
Shamrocks And Shenanigans is, first and foremost, a brilliant name for a track and also a phrase which perfectly encapsulates that early House of Pain aesthetic
It’s also one of my favourite beats from the album, in fact it might be Lethal’s best one on the album overall.
Always loved Everlast’s opening salvo too, “I kicks the flavour like Stephen King writes horror”, before unleashing more sharp lyrics plus another excellent hook that goes “boom shalak-lak boom”, and, if you click the video below, I guarantee will end up playing in your head long after you’ve finished listening.
And now, let’s all stand for the House Of Pain Anthem.
It’s a short song this one, just over two and a half minutes, but Everlast can’t help sneaking in a corned beef and cabbage reference before passing over to Danny Boy…
Danny Boy, Danny Boy is the ninth track, the beats once again are by DJ Lethal and Everlast appears, once more, to mention corned beef and fucking cabbage – seriously, what is it with yee yanks and that shit?
Same goes for Danny Boy.
In fact, now is as good a time as ever to talk about Danny Boy.
Danny Boy takes his name from a purportedly Irish song, but in reality, that song was written by an Englishman. And not just any Englishman, an English lawyer – eww!
Yet it’s still beloved by Americans for some reason, despite the fact that every single Irish person hates it.
This House of Pain’s Danny Boy, that’s a far funkier performance though.
Guess Who’s Back sees Muggs return with some phat bluesy beats made of spliced up snippets of blues legend Albert King.
“Yeah I’m Irish, word to the motherland”, eeh, sure thing Everlast.
If you were really Irish you’d know we call it the mammyland.
Commercial 2 is another short interlude, once again with dialogue from The Island of Doctor Moreau, before we get to Put On Your Shit Kickers.
And once again – I know I know, I should let it go – we get shout outs to corned beef and cabbage, along with Irish stew, Guinness and, for some reason, Boss Hogg.
Really love the hook on this one, though, likewise this line from Danny Boy,
“I got the shell-toe Adidas, with the fat strings,
the Celtic crosses and the Claddagh rings
the straight edge razor and the Mossberg pump
You heard me shit-clickin’, now it’s time to jump!”
Come And Get Some Of This is one of the few tracks on his album which falls flat, in my opinion, guest producer Ralf The Funky Mexican joins Muggs on this one, bringing a beat that’s tamer than most.
And because the drums lack punch, compared to the rest of the album the accompanying loop feels decidedly repetitive and even Everlast can’t save this one from sounding like a mere filler track.
Ah well, Life Goes On. This is the second joint creation of Muggs and Ralf The Funky Mexican, it’s a much better effort this time around but still feels somewhat tamer compared to other tracks.
One For The Road sits on a bluesy beat from DJ Lethal. Everlast once again delivers the goods here with fine style, while also citing the song, “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra” which, contrary to popular opinion, is not an Irish lullaby but another American invention. (At least there were no lawyers involved this time around.)
Who cares though, because that Mickey Mouse hook is so damn catchy.
Feel It brings back Ralf The Funky Mexican, on his own this time, for his third and I think best beat on the album.
Once again, we get some references to Dukes of Hazzard for whatever reason, before Everlast rocks the mic with aplomb, despite the fact that most of the references haven’t exactly aged well. (e.g. Parker Lewis and New Kids On The Block.)
All My Love is the typical shout-out track, with Everlast giving shoutouts to his family, friends and crew, plus Cypress Hill, Funkdoobiest and so on.
DJ Lethal’s beat on this one’s particularly wild, as is Everlast’s shouty ending.
All My Love is either the final or penultimate track, depending on the version of the album. The version I had also featured Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix) so I’m including here.
Remixing such a massive hiphop anthem is unenviable task and, although I’m a big fan of Pete Rock and know he can make a sick beat, it’s fair to say no matter who they asked, nobody could ever hope to beat the original.
So Pete Rock doesn’t try, instead of zigging he wisely chooses to zag, delivering a toned down, jazzier version while also making a brief guest appearance for a short verse in the middle.
This, in turn, helped the song get played more in New York clubs, giving House of Pain more east coast traction. And with DJs on both coasts blasting their music out in clubs, the House of Pain gained more underground credibility, despite their chart-topping success.
Corn Beef And Bollocks
Growing up in Ireland in the early 90s while we had little choice but escape to its soggy fields and bogs to escape our terminal boredom and cause mayhem, usually with a mini ghettoblaster in tow.
And whenever I think of those drizzly, mud-clogged times I can’t help but recall the immortal lyrics, “put on your shit kickers and kick some shit.”
That we most certainly did.
Fine Malt Lyrics may have been overstuffed with faux-Hiberniana, but we loved it all the same.
The first half of the album is notably stronger than the second, but overall Fine Malt Lyrics is quality. Jump Around remains the highpoint. Put Your Head Out is another standout track for me. We also get tons of amazing hooks throughout, especially on tracks like Shamrocks and Shenanigans and Put On Your Shit Kickers.
The dual productions of DJ Lethal and Muggs ensure a high phatness content throughout. Ralf M’s contributions aren’t quite as strong but still solid, particularly on Feel It.
Fine Malt Lyrics is also the album where Everlast truly comes into his own. Sure, there’s some solid moments on his earlier solo debut, but Fine Malt Lyrics is where he hit his stride as a rapper. And two years later that stride soon turned to an effortless swagger.
For me, everything peaked with the second House Of Pain album, 1994’s Same As It Ever Was, which, though lacking the big hits like Jump Around, is on aggregate a far superior album.
It’s also got 50% less shamrocks and shenanigans (though we still get shoutouts to corned beef and cabbage.)
Having said all that, even if the Irish thing was a cynical gimmick and a thankfully short-lived one, it none the less had an effect.
I honestly don’t think the members of the House of Pain are fully aware of the impact they had in Ireland. Rap music was something we enjoyed but until Fine Malt Lyrics came out, we had nobody we could realistically identify with.
The breakout success of the House of Pain meant that suddenly the idea of an Irish rap group wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.
And I credit the House of Pain, alongside native 90s crews like Scary Eire, for inspiring others to follow, helping build the foundations of the scene we have today.
Today Ireland has a thriving hiphop scene, best exemplified by Kneecap, who’ve managed the seemingly impossible task of not only bringing Irish hiphop, but Irish language hiphop to a wide, international audience.
With that in mind maybe it’s time for a trans-Atlantic teamup. How amazing would that be?
Not sure if the boys from Béal Feirste would have much appetite for corned beef and cabbage, but now I’m imagining the visceral wince of Everlast taking his first sip of Buckfast with and will be giggling about it all day.
Time to get Buck wild.