Houston-based hip-hop foursome Check Other stopped in at The Mink/Backroom on Friday, November 7 to contribute to the monthly Mission Control event put on by MC/host Mic Skills and DJ Remix.

Read about the night and view photos and videos after the jump

Check Other is a hip-hop collective comprised of MCs Sunny D. Cypher, Mention78, Grassy Noel and Tommy Bumps. Together, they specialize in layering thought-provoking, often humorous ("You start downtown at McKinney and Bagby/And roll all the way over to Montrose to where the fags be") rhymes over throwback grooves. The group continually impresses me with their apparent ability to riff on just about any topic with great results. From an entertaining account of the oversaturation of Houston roads to an amusing discussion of the composition of girls' names, Check O brings heat to any subject matter that they choose.

At the Backroom, Check Other treated a small but enthusiastic audience to a half hour long set of songs from both their eponymous full-length debut and Westheimer Traffik, the mixtape they released earlier this year. Highlights included perennial personal favorite "Begin," the first track on their debut. "SDTW," another song from the same album, also sounded particularly good on this night – as Mention78 proclaims, "Second time around fresher than the first." Perhaps my favorite moment of the night, however, involved Grassy Noel performing the Charleston onstage. Loves it!

Check O played several songs that I'd never heard live before, and I'm happy to report that they sounded great, even though the mics could have used a generous boost in volume. It's obvious that these guys take rehearsal and their art seriously – though not so seriously that they don't have fun. They exude energy and an obvious passion for what they do. This all comes out when they're onstage, and was definitely apparent at the Backroom. It was a short but solid showing from this up-and-coming group, and they're just getting started.

Check Other on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/checkother

View more photos from the night on our Flickr account and more videos on our YouTube channel.

I was going to put up an mp3 from Westheimer Traffik for download, but something's wrong with our audio uploader. If I figure out what's wrong with the damn thing, I'll add it. If anyone's got a good recommendation for an embedded audio player, please, I beg of you, email us.

–Cereal