A late kick-off at Crawdaddy means that the audience are really up for it when Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip hit the stage. Pitched somewhere between brilliance and banality, like many Brit-rap acts, they lean more toward the “backpacker” end of their genre’s scale. What’s encouraging, though, is that the duo are capable of leavening indie-rap’s trademark pomposity and self-importance with more humour and colour than most of their transatlantic contemporaries.
For instance, a mid-set a capella rap condemning Britain’s participation in the Iraq war may feel like a familiar, tired soapbox exercise for left-leaning pop acts. And yet, any ensuing cynicism is swept aside by the dynamic, propulsive brilliance of the duo’s smash hit single ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’, a sizzling, sideways look at contemporary Britain that – unsurprisingly – proves to be the evening’s highlight.
Of course, most audience members, attracted on the basis of prior exposure to this pop masterwork, will have been eager to hear more of similar quality. The jury, I suspect, is still out. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip certainly possess a compelling dynamic: Scroobius is lanky, bearded and animated, his quirky, piercing raps providing a pleasing counterpoint to Le Sac’s more reserved presence. The latter tends to communicate with no-one other than his laptop, efficiently punching out sharp (if not exactly thrilling) IDM-flavoured beats, which occasionally throw up a killer hook or three.
A mixed evening, then, but one which provided a satisfactory showcase for one of 2008’s more promising new acts. It’s all down to how that debut album hangs together.