tobi lou - Non-Perishable

A record with a lot to love, sometimes even too much

By: Griffin Jacobs

Chicago rapper tobi lou’s “Non-Perishable” is caricatural of him to an absurd degree. His spacey production choices, cheesy but endearing bars, vocal distortions, and open insecurity are taken to the nth degree on this record. In that way, I could easily see this album becoming a cult classic in that it’s very lovable while also having clear issues which hold it back.

“Non-Perishable” is maximalist, often to a fault. It clearly has a lot of ideas, and many of them work really well, but at only 32 minutes, they feel cluttered, like they are fighting each other for space. The prime example of this is “Jelly,” which, despite sounding great, doesn’t take a single second to breathe or slow down over its 1:50 runtime. The song is a barrage of vocals, ad-libs, drums, and bass, which feels overwhelming. Similarly, “Busy” ends with a guitar solo, which sounds incredible but is completely superfluous. It’s emblematic of the album’s tendency to use every idea it has without making cuts.

On the positive side, tobi lou has always been a personality-driven artist and plays to his advantage here. He has this infectious happiness that’s conveyed even through short clips of his 2021 Lollapalooza set (which also serve as perfect segues between songs). That focus makes his emotional vulnerabilities on songs like “2+hrs” and “The Last Dance” hit hard even when his lyricism is incredibly kitschy.