SSSC is obviously patterned after Rage Against the Machine and there are so many similarities that the listener can almost think of this band as Rage with a new voice. Morello's guitar work (he plays bass throughout the effort too) recalls his early work with Rage as jagged rhythms and stinging solos fly off his fret board like so many Chinese throwing stars, particularly recalling Rage on tunes like "Shock You Again" and during the anthem "Fight! Smash! Win!"

SSSC's music doesn't seethe with anger like Rage's did though. Boots Riley is not rapping about butterflies and pussywillows on songs like "100 Little Curses" and "Clap For the Killers" but his disdain for the street life and all the things that cause it is spelled out more with a tough-edged urban cool than with anger. Make no mistake, this music is forceful. It's just that the message comes across with finesse whereas a Zack de la Rocha-fronted Rage got their message across through bombast.

Riley's work here makes these songs very contemporary even as Morello occasionally looks further back than Rage, throwing in quick references to lots of classic rockers; Sabbath references recur throughout, there are a couple of nods to "wizard" rockers like Uriah Heep and Morello even directly lifts a riff from Jethro Tull's "Cross-eyed Mary."