Rolling Stone (4/4/96, p.60) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...using samples, loops, and scratches--with standard funk bass and beats--FLC stake a larger claim on hip-hop tools than G. Love [& Special Sauce] ever attempted..."
Q (7/96, p.110) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...a vibrant splatterfest of urban hip hop, full of stomping beats, razor sharp ribald lyrics, fresh and frazzled samples and a compellingly crunchy set of melodies....They play fast and loose with wise-guy iconography against a crisp and bouncy backbeat..."
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #21 in NME's 1996 critic's poll.
NME (Magazine) (6/29/96, p.54) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Where there should be grimaces, there are grins. Where there should be realism, there is surrealism....shooting out increasing bizarre shades of nonsense...as blissfully screwed up as it is listenable..."
Fun Lovin' Criminals: Huey (vocals, guitar); Fast, Steve.
Recorded at Steve Rosenthal's Magic Shop, New York, New York from April 25 to May 20, 1995.
COME FIND YOURSELF, the debut record from this New York alternative-rap trio, is equally a product of the post-Beck and post-"Paul Revere" worlds. Alluding in their musical blueprint to the "Loser" folkie, Criminals Huey, Fast and Steve sculpt tracks driven by live drums and guitars, yet whose smooth, rock-ist samples are the songs' true calling cards--"Bombin' The L" spotlights a refrain from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird," and "Crime And Punishment" is built on "Sunshine Of Your Love."
Lyrically, instead of stringing together pop-culture-weary non-sequiturs, FLC adopt the jokey, faux-gangster posturing of the Beastie Boys' classic LICENSE TO ILL--leading to quasi-classic lines like "La-di-da-di/Free John Gotti," the chorus to "King Of New York." The result is a head-nodder of an album that'll make any listener question whether to laugh along or call the cops--and that's precisely the point.