On 11/13 around 4:15 pm EST, I was sitting at my desk when Michael blurted out that Death Grips had just put out a new album. Honestly I don’t remember exactly how many expletives came out of my mouth as I feverishly downloaded what was listed as Government Plates, but I do remember my first interaction with the music came in the form of a music video. The video for that first track showed something pretty rare, captured above. Stefan Burnett’s big, excited grin, interrupted by fits of either laughing or screaming (the lack of audio makes it hard to tell), marked a moment where Death Grips finally broke away from the bad vibes spread throughout the year. Government Plates found Death Grips reaching and evolving in every way. Burnett explored his vocal range from raw sneers (“Anne Bonny”) to a surreal spoken word (“Birds”), and especially the sort of mantras that fit better in electronic music than rap (“This Is Violence Now”). On the title track he allowed his own voice to be mangled, transformed into just another instrument (not unlike Venus Williams’ screamed tennis serve which made up the climax of “System Blower”). Meanwhile, Zach Hill challenged himself by becoming more reserved throughout the tracks, making the drum tracks more primitive and infinitely harder hitting. Finally Andy “Flatlander” Morin’s production work grew even more complex and enveloping than before. “Big House” and “Bootleg” pounded and swung, respectively, through his dense beats and loops, but it’s in the final moments that you see him shine like never before. “Whatever I Want (Fuck Who’s Watch)” finds Burnett, Morin, and Hill in the form they’ve always been striving for – three very talented individuals completely meshing into one unified sound. They moved in such complete synch, bouncing from slow, blown out dreaminess to lightning fast attacks with a complete disregard for form. It’s an incredible piece of music in its own right, but even more exciting when you think about what it spells for what’s next.