Urban Dance Squad hit pay dirt with 1988's rap-rock surprise "Deeper Shade of Soul" off their debut, Mental Floss for the Globe, before kicking up dust with three flimsy follow-ups.

This makes the Amsterdam, Netherlands, quintet a prime candidate for the has-been-that-never-was-been category, next to Jesus Jones, Soup Dragons, the Farm, and other cheeky dance-rock acts who thought they could make a career out of a gimmick and a lucky break. Twelve years later, the Squad's gimmick — applying hip-hop's scratching and sampling techniques to rock 'n' roll — is the thing to do and they want credit. Their fifth and latest, Artantica, is a good reason why they're deserving. The hit this time is "Happy Go Fucked Up" (RealAudio excerpt), a Molotov cocktail (that's what the boyz call their thing) of spitfire rhymes and greasy grooves paired with a lilting dub-reggae chorus.

The two-parter "Qs & As on an O.D." is spectacular. Part one is white-noise ambience, a heady mix of Zep-like beats and Sonic Youth-like feedback squelches. Part two is brighter and cleaner with some down-homey acoustic blues figures and finger-lickin' scratches. And "Step Off" (RealAudio excerpt), an amalgam of trash talk, creeping funk, and brutal guitar riffage, has a little something in the chorus (presumably) aimed at bizkits and ragers alike: "Step off, give me props."