Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - Spoken Culture

“We manage to cover chemistry, social issues, suicide, massage and Tommy Cooper! And that’s just the first few songs!” If this were any other band describing the opening tracks of their debut album it would be easy to be sceptical. However, bizarre lyrics about everything from Hollyoaks to paedophiles is exactly what we have come to expect from Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. The Essex musicians have been creating a stir in every genre from dance and indie to rap and hip-hop, with their groundbreaking new brand of spoken word electro. Bearded poet Scroobius Pip (who takes his unusual name from the Lear poem, The Scroobious Pip) provides sharp verbose monologues over the electronic beats of DJ and producer Dan Le Sac. The end products are witty and engaging anecdotes with infectious melodies, and as a result one of the most straight-talking bands on the scene are becoming among the most talked about.

From the moment they dared to remind us that Beatles were “just a band” in their first collaboration, the appeal of their zeitgeist-capturing tunes has spread like wildfire. Thou Shalt Always Kill was a modern take on the ten commandments tackling every youth culture cliché from 'Thou shalt not Pimp My Ride' to 'Thou shalt not wish your girlfriend was a freak like me'. Combining more popular culture references than Heat magazine and enough sound advice to give Jeremy Kyle a run for his money, the song brought the pair both underground recognition and a stint in the UK Top Forty. But there’s a fine line between a novel idea and a novelty track and so much airplay and success coming from just one song brought the risk that Thou Shalt Always Kill would become their Iron Lung. But amongst the tongue-in-cheek riddles some serious messages prevailed, and the storming follow up releases Beat That My Heart Skipped, Letter From God to Man, and latest single Look For The Woman, prove the duo to be anything but one hit wonders. Now they are teetering on the brink of releasing their debut album Angels, we caught up with Scroobius Pip to find out more about the record and their UK tour at time of going to press.

“We are only a few dates in and it’s been great fun. Touring always feels great because you seem to achieve a lot in a short amount of time. When you look back over a week of gigs and think about all the different people and crowds you’ve played to, it’s always pleasing,” muses Scroobius. And it’s certainly true that a lot of lucky folk will get the chance to catch this tour; with almost 30 dates continuing from April into May, their upcoming schedule is packed. “Our live show mixes a lot of elements… some strange theatrics as well as words and beats. On this tour we’ve brought a full living room with us, so that’s a good indication of how unusual the live show gets.” They won’t just be confining this weirdness to small scale venues either; the band are scheduled to play several large festivals over the summer, but how do they think their spoken word tunes will go down at the more dance-orientated festivals like Gatecrasher? “We’ll soon see! We have played Fabric and a few dancey nights before, and it’s always gone down well, so we’re really looking forward to the challenge of keeping the attention and excitement up.”

And what can we expect on the new album? “It’s really varied. We were so pleased when we listened back, and it all sits together so well. The beats and subject matters have such a wide range that it could have ended up as a compilation CD rather than an album, but somehow it just seems to go together nicely. My personal favourite song at the moment is the final track Waiting For The Beat To Kick In. I like it because I really get to go to town on the spoken word. It’s about seven minutes long and it’s a big rambling story. Everyone else will probably hate it!” Worrying about people’s reactions to their music has never been a primary concern: having famously advised the masses 'Thou shalt not read NME' in their debut single, does Scroobius think the publication is trying to make them feel guilty by now giving them glowing reviews? “Haha! They’ve been very supportive really, despite us appearing out of nowhere and slagging them off. Lovely people!”

Their debut is tackling some serious issues like religion, abuse and the pitfalls of capitalism, and Scroobius' train of reasoning hints at drawing attention to unrepresented or undiscussed topics in an accessible medium: “There are some unusual subjects chucked in, but hopefully it will just make people think about stuff that isn’t normally addressed in music.”

Amongst all their words of poetic wisdom, one phrase stands out from last year's hit single: 'Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they have become popular' – remember that in the coming months!