As strange as it was to find out Sam Herring of Future Islands had a rap alter-ego named Hemlock Ernst, I could barely believe my ears when his brother Joel Herring contacted me under his super-rapping moniker Plucky Walker.
The Herrings are some talented siblings. Plucky Walker raps like he grew up on Sauce Money, R.A. The Rugged Man and Latyrx, instead of synth-pop and Joe Cocker. He's gruff and complex, which somewhat reminds me of Ft. Wayne's Sankofa. Plucky Walker is a style technician as he flexes an uncanny ability to deliver rapid-fire rap precision and pump the breaks for a sung chorus. It's as though he employs the same vocal tools his brother has honed, but it's ingrained in the boom and the bap.
Raw Story is a collection of songs Plucky brought on the road to paint a solid portrait of an artist breaking from the embryonic stages. Respectfully the collection jacks beats from Black Milk, Jake One, Thes One, Oddissee and Dr. Who? Dat to name a few – proving Walker has exceptional and humble taste in producers. Truthfully, he's only a few steps away in rap networking from potentially receiving a beat to call his own from this list. On “Escaping Into The Pages” and “Take Some Bread On The Road, Son” Walker raps like I wish Lyrics Born still brought it.
Plucky and his brother Hemlock Ernst have a rap duo called Flesh Epic, which I cannot wait to hear. The duo just wrapped a tour with Height With Friends.
Download Raw Story here.
Plucky Walker, “Streetsleeper”
