Straight outta Melbourne, the five-man Australian crew called Curse Ov Dialect is one of the most fiery and innovative acts in hip-hop outside of the United States. Crisis Tales, the group’s debut for the Staubgold label and the follow-up to 2006’s seriously slept-on Wooden Tongues, is as good as anything to come from America lately. It’s a funky, confrontational call-to-arms that echoes the sound of such unsung political beatbox greats as The Goats and Blood of Abraham. While some may not have much interest in issues such as Aboriginal rights or the rampant political corruption of Curse Ov Dialect’s home continent, Crisis Tales nevertheless commands attention, thanks to the uncanny mic skills of MCs Raceless and Vulk Makedonski and their unique back-and-forth with vocalists August the 2nd and Aturungi. A highlight of the album is an 11-minute UN posse cut, “Colossus”, that features a plethora of guest MCs from Macedonia, Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Switzerland and the United States. All of this is held up on titanium stilts by the psychedelic boom of DJ/producer Paso Bionic. Here’s hoping this soon-to-be classic of the international b-boy lexicon will finally garner the accolades Curse Ov Dialect so richly deserve.

• Multiple songs MySpace