Oral Retentive Rap From Texas

Group: MC 900 Ft Jesus with DJ Zero.

History: Mark Griffin was working in a record store in Dallas, when he heard of evangelist Oral Roberts’ vision of a gigantic Christ figure. Inspired by this bit of spiritual surrealism, Griffin, who’d been experimenting with sound in his home studio, took the preacher’s inspiration as his own rapper’s handle. Hooking up with fellow record store employee Zero, one of the only “scratch� deejays in Dallas, Griffin released an EP, “Too Bad/Shut Up,� on his own Gonga label last year. Nettwerk, an alternative-music label based in Vancouver, B.C., was impressed by the EP and signed MC 900 Ft Jesus last June. Nettwerk recently formed a distribution deal with I.R.S. Records, which has just released the duo’s debut album, “Hell With the Lid Off.� Griffin recently returned from a successful two-week European tour, including a session in London for the BBC’s influential John Peel show.

Sound: Griffin produces sonic collages that mix and match some elements familiar to anyone who listens to college radio and rap stations. Those whispery subliminals and filtered vocals are reminiscent of fellow Nettwerk noisemeisters Skinny Puppy; that pulsing rhythm on “I’m Going Straight to Heaven,� recalls the primal thump of Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines.� But familiarity does not breed contempt: Griffin’s theoretical groove thing insinuates rather than hammers listeners into submission. The electronic gospel of MC 900 Ft Jesus deals with themes of religious hypocrisy and urban paranoia, relayed from beyond the fringes of experience, tempered by self-deprecating humor, and nailed to a hip-hop beat that just won’t quit.

Shows: Friday at Helter Skelter in Hollywood, Saturday at Club Postnuclear in Laguna Beach.