Beastie Boys Unveil New Songs

Hip hop icons Beastie Boys have surprised fans by giving away new material in a recent box set.

Forming as The Young Aborigines in the mid 80s, the trio originally made thrashy hardcore punk. Pausing to make a goofy hip hop track, the band quickly discovered that they found rap a more flexible form to use than the increasingly staid hardcore scene - Gallows take note.

After a demo tape made the rounds Beastie Boys, as they were now called, wound up signed to hip hop powerhouse Def Jam, sharing a roster with global giants such as Run DMC. The band's debut album 'Licensed To Ill' is a guilty pleasure, mixing frat boy raps with phat guitar riffs.

It was their follow up albums, 'Paul's Boutique' and 'Check Your Head', which would enshrine the band's status as hip hop legends. Beastie Boys hooked up with production team The Dust Brothers to work on the material, producing rap that blended dense sample work with rhymes included a scatalogical approach to pop culture.

Although 'Paul's Boutique' is generally held to be the more confident album, 'Check Your Head' runs it close and of course benefits from the inclusion of storming single 'Sabotage'. Remember its 'Starsky And Hutch' inspired video? That was cool.

1992's 'Check Your Head' was recently re-issued in luxurious collector's box set format. Expanded to include a number of alternate versions and rarities, some fans found an exclusive seven inch hidden away in their copy.

Featuring the brand new songs 'Lee Majors Comes Again' and 'B Boys In The Cut' the seven inch was only placed in a selected few editions of the box set.

'Lee Majors Comes Again' is a fast track, influenced by the band's past as a rock group. However 'B Boys In The Cut' is pure hip hop, featuring the trio rapping a capella. The band are currently working on a new studio album, which is scheduled for released later this year but it is not yet known if the songs will appear on the record.

You can heard parts of both songs at the music blog Mic To Mic.

Beastie Boys' expanded version of 'Check Your Head' is available now.