“THOU SHALT NOT MAKE REPETETIVE GENERIC MUSIC” preached people’s poet Scroobius Pip on their landmark hit single ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill.’ Are the electro-spoken-word-beat-combo proving to practice what they preach? We ask Rev. ALEX BRITTON. TESTIFY!
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – The Logic of Chance
Released: 15/3/2010
Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip are a duo that had only previously come into my consciousness through their surprisingly popular “Thou Shalt Always Kill”, a myriad commandments to ‘da youth’ of today with the rather juxtaposing comment of imploring them to also “think for themselves” set to rather tired electro courtesy of Dan. I had the impression that this album would be along a similar vein. It already had two very large crosses against it for the fairly unnecessary use of ‘vs.’ in their name – they seem to be on fairly good terms, after all – and the album title which is more suited to a heavy, drab murder mystery novel than an upbeat electro-rap mashup for da kidz, yeah? Yeah.
However, prejudices placed firmly aside, I gave it a try. Opening track Sick Tonight is fairly symptomatic of the problems with The Logic of Chance as a whole. The tightness and drive of Dan’s use of percussion and synthesiser merely serve to highlight the looseness and flabbiness of Scroobius’ rhymes. Speaking of which, Scroobius markets himself as a politically intelligent rapper along the lines of Sage Francis and Braintax but his soapbox diatribes aren’t nearly as witty or as smooth as either of these two artists. When he raps, “I swear, as a citizen of this country, to take action if action be needed,” he just sounds like an irate protester being interviewed for the 10 o’clock news.
The highlight of the album – but, you know, it’s all relative – would have to be Five Minutes, in which the politics are ditched and replaced with a softly rapped story of a woman dealing with domestic abuse set to lo-fi electronica and unimposing beats. The beauty of this song is within its fragility, the verse is retiringly haunting and helps drive the song along to a rather subdued ending. Such moments of promise are all the more bitter to listen to given the songs that it rubs shoulders with. A desire to politicise is what lets The Logic of Chance down when their style of spoken rhymes and soft electronica is far better suited to delicate songs of love and tragedy.
Alex Britton
Tags: dan le sac, hip hop, scroobius pip
