Top of the Class

Bands have been trying to mix rock with hip-hop since Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. hit it big with “Walk This Way.” Gym Class Heroes dared to take this further on As Cruel As School Children by combining R&B grooves, hip-hop beats, and rapped emo lyrics.The band came to be when drummer Matt McGinley and singer/MC Travis McCoy met over ten years ago in high school gym class, a scenario inspiring both the group name and the idea behind their latest album. As Cruel As School Children consists of “class periods” rather than tracks and tells many tales of love, be it unrequited, gone wrong, or disguised as lust.

“Queen and I” starts the body moving immediately with flamenco-inspired guitar and an equally hooking bassline. Clever lyrics make “New Friend Request,” McCoy’s take on flirting via the Internet, stating what every Myspace lurker thinks but doesn’t want to admit: “Who cares if we don’t know each other’s last names?/ All I know is that I’m smitten with your pictures wishin’ you think the same.”

The three-part “Sloppy Love Jingle” includes short spoken rhymes that are interesting the first few listens, but later become skippable due to their lack of music. A cameo from William Beckett of labelmates The Academy Is gives the story of touring “7 Weeks” a falsetto chorus which compliments McCoy’s chill rapping narration. Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump, who produced the record, is another famous friend lending his voice to the cheeky club hit “Clothes Off!”

Unusual as emotional hip-hop might sound, it’s a refreshing new style that appeals to several camps of music fans. Gym Class Heroes may be on to something big.