Album: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Angles (Sunday Best)

Thou shalt not be a one-hit wonder

Reviewed
Saturday 10 May 2008 19:00 EDT
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If you know lo-fi hip hop act Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip at all, you'll know them from "Thou Shalt Always Kill", last year's word-of-mouth phenomenon which pontificated on everything from indie snobbery to the spelling of the word "phoenix".

The duo's debut album picks up where that single left off. On the overture to the opening track, "Beat That My Heart Skipped", Scroobius Pip (he's the Amish-bearded performance poet) rails against "soulless music, artless lyrics, goalless movements, heartless gimmicks" over Dan Le Sac's rudimentary sample-based backing track. Le Sac and Pip are angered by pop culture more than political matters, and as a result this album can feel airless, in desperate need of a window thrown open. That said, when they step outside the indie ghetto, they're often fascinating. The Radiohead-sampling "Letter from God to Man" casts the deity as neither omniscient nor omnipotent, a curator rather than a creator. But it's their original manifesto which still stands tall, and a different line jumps out every time. There's a little of the spirit of Lenny Bruce about these two, but a little goes a long way.

Pick of the Album: A lot more than 10 commandments: 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'

Click here to listen to clips and buy this album

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