Sunday Best Recordings
By Mike Brigade, Contributor.
I really hated “Porter.” Its chief conceit, that women in a mental health facility are characters from fiction like Snow The first I heard of the English duo was the video of their first single, “Thou Shalt White or Dorothy Gale is cliché as hell Always Kill,” which went semi-viral a few years back. It was a breath of sardonic air and insultingly dismissive of mental health in an increasingly stale market: Dan Le Sac’s cheery, uncomplicated beats provided a issues. I found the song disturbingly counterpoint to Pip’s unrelenting take on contemporary culture. Formatted as a list patriarchal as well, in stark contrast to the of commandments, ranging from “thou shalt not drink coke products” to “thou shalt no put artists upon ridiculous pedestals” to the titular “thou shalt always kill,” the song rest of the duo’s repertoire, which usually managed to simultaneously eviscerate today’s highly-conscious and fickle pop culture as takes up arms against marginalization. I it embraced it with a knowing smirk and a salute. I say all of this, because “Thou Shalt may be missing some irony, but the whole Always Kill” was my first impression of the duo, and in many ways “You Will See Me,” song reeks of intellectual laziness and mass-appeal focus. It feels rushed, it isn’t from their recently released “Repent, Replenish, Repeat,” evokes the same blend of clever, and brings down the quality of the earnest emotion and wink-and-nod self-awareness. album. For such an angry song, on an album punctuated by dan le sac’s noisy, grimy, dubstepand-industrial-influenced beats, I found the song oddly moving and beautiful. Part of it Which is my chief complaint of the is Pip’s delivery: honest rage and angst at a lost love, tempered with a sense of his own album as a whole: the good tracks are great, but there is such a difference absurdity at not being able to get over it. It starts off with a subtle acknowledgement between the good tracks and the filler of ego, that the anonymous lover that propels the song couldn’t identify the speaker’s good qualities, and would see him get rich and famous alone. It soon swells to absurd, that it’s hard to listen to the whole thing desperate heights like, “I will make rivers run red in your anonymity,” as Pip’s delivery through. Overall, the album is still better than a lot of alternatives. For the most becomes more insistent, desperate for you to understand just how much he doesn’t part it’s smart, catchy, provocative and care about his lost love and will perform ludicrous acts to prove it. It’s a powerful passionate. I would recommend “Repent, piece, and dan le sac links it to their own success with a clean electronic sound that Replenish, Repeat” with some reservations evokes “Thou Shalt Always Kill” in a minor key. it if you’re into electronic music, hip-hop The rest of the album is okay. The singles “Stunner” and “Gold Teeth” have interesting or spoken word. It’s a mixed bag, and music, commentary on hip-hop and club culture, catchy choruses and quotable lines. is genuinely interesting in places, but is inconsistent in quality and doesn’t quite “Stunner” offers pragmatism and a realistic take on relationships and image. Like a gel into a cohesive album.
Repent, Replenish, Repeat 2013 –dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip
October 21st 2013
As for the rest, well... “Stiff Upper Lip,” falls somewhere between didactic and dumb, i.e. “Fuck the stiff upper lip, pick up a brick,” and probably won’t motivate its slacktivist target to any kind of action, let alone the political violence encouraged by the song. “Terminal,” is okay, it’s more of a spoken word poem about a break up than a song though. It isn’t bad by any means, but I find myself skipping ahead after a less than a minute. “Nightbus Sleepers” and “Heroism” are similar in sound, and lack the musical polish or lyrical sophistication of other tracks. Pretty typical filler tracks, nothing offensive, but one track really stood out:
The Confluence - Arts
Album art for Repent, Replenish, Repeat.
“Gold Teeth” is a straight up rant against superficiality and conspicuous consumption. It has a tolerable dubstep drop and conventional polish that could see it snuck into a club rotation by accident. I imagine it would go over pretty decently until people started listening to the lyrics.
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Triple-R Rap
lot of Pip’s solo work, “Stunner” pushes critical thinking and self-reflection as important and desirable traits, minus a lot of the didacticism I felt from “Distraction Pieces,” Pip’s last solo album. Dan le sac’s track here is probably the best on the album too: heavy and noisy without being obnoxious.