Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

Angles

[3/5]

It’s fitting that the American debut from Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip comes via Sage Francis’ Strange Famous Records. Pip, aka David Meads, (essentially the British version of Francis) pairs his intellectual wordplay with the lo-fi beat wizardry of Le Sac, aka Dan Stephens. Though still relatively unknown in the U.S., the duo are chart-toppers back home-apparently challenging music is still rewarded somewhere. Like Francis, Pip’s complicated rhymes straddle the line between spoken word and rapping-“Beat That My Heart Skipped” begins as an a cappella poetry bit that trashes materialism and evolves into a bouncy hip-hop jam. Le Sac drops Casio melodies over mangled breakbeats on “Thou Shalt Always Kill,” a pulsing tune in which Pip criticizes the concept of rockstars being idols. While Angles certainly won’t earn them top billing in the States, it’s bound to charm the alt-rap scene with its undeniable wit. (STRANGE FAMOUS)