It’s hard to resist the draw and the firepower of the Street Sweeper Social Club, the teaming of musical activists Tom Morello and Boots Riley of the Coup. As their name suggests, the SSSC’s mission is simple: to rid the streets of the self-absorbed elitists who run around strutting their statues. On their self-titled debut, Riley and Morello enlist the aid of Galactic’s Stanton Moore as they hit the pavement in search of a horde of soldiers, a good time and a world of trouble.

Yet, while the SSSC unfurl a well-stocked arsenal of hardcore grooves, menacing riffs and gung-ho raps, much like a street riot, their onslaught more closely resembles an overrun melee as opposed to a well-timed rampage. The barrage comes on swiftly, out of nowhere and at full force with the call, “Fight! Smash! Win!” But after a few sinister guitar solos, spit-fire raps and fist-pumping choruses, the surge loses steam. Many of Riley’s verses feel retrofitted to Morello’s mayhem. The blue collar battle cry “The Oath” never quite rises to the occasion, and as the brigade marches on, the villainous anthem “Clap for the Killers” and the apocalyptic hoedown “Promenade” sink under the toil and repetition of clunkers like “Shock You Again” and “Megablast.” When the dust settles, this battle ends in a stalemate.