Rap has had some pretty groanworthy lines over the years and “I’ll take you out of the ring, like your ex-wife’s finger” or “I love rap like a falafel in a pita bun” would surely rank high in anyone’s list of them. But on his 3rd album, aptly titled 3rdburglar, the Canadian underground rapper Wordburglar takes such a liberal approach to these kind of similes and delivers them at such a relentless pace, that it’s hard not to become infatuated.

Like a one-man, nerdier, Ugly Duckling, he brings outright fun and high energy to a unique brand of hip-hop. Wordburglar’s personality has always been his strength, always willing to share issues or get deep into comic book and nerd culture references without resorting to parody. In fact, he even dedicates a few tracks to just calling out comic books (“Drawing With Words”) or video games (“Yabosayo”) to good effect with only “Dude, Where’s My AT-AT at?” wearing thin after a couple of rotations.

Now back to cool stuff like sports bloopers / and Star Wars when Han and Luke were Stormtroopers / I love rap like a falafel in a pita bun / Optimus Prime’s girlfriend is Elita One

But, unusually when compared to his previous albums, ‘burg seems more at home on the less-conceptual tracks. “Sufficiently Suffonsified” crams seemingly endless amounts of wordplay in its three and a half minutes while “Croque Monsieur” sets a similar tone in the album’s opener. Although the stand-out comes from the back-and-forth with More or Les on “Rhyme O’Clock”, here the duo bring high amounts of energy to a track that’s unashamedly hip-hop.

Wordburglar’s previous releases have hinted at something greater, and 3rdburglar bests them with an album packed full of references, similes and laughs. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but anyone who likes goofy in their hip-hop you should find one of their albums of the year in 3rdburglar.

3rdburglar came out on the 15th of May and is available on URBNet’s Bandcamp.