Review Summary: Worth the hype, but it comes off a little too much like Fisher-Price My First Dubstep
Along with talking to women and learning how to properly wipe, the concept of dubstep has always eluded me. What do you mean I can’t just tell them I love them out of the clear blue sky? What do you mean I can’t use six squares at once? What do you mean it’s nothing like techno? And while I have a lot to learn, I think I’m making strides in each area. And, by golly, when I found out that the former whiney teenager singer from From First To Last, a.k.a. Sonny Moore, a.k.a. Skrillex, had taken up the art of electronica/dubstep, I was intrigued enough to check it out. With his second EP
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, does Skrillex jostle up enough good ideas sink your teeth into, or does it simply act as a gateway to bigger and better things within the genre?
For as secluded as this genre is, you’d be hard pressed for any logical explanation as to why Skrillex is so damn popular nowadays. But with artists like Deadmau5 hitting the mainstream and Britney Spears incorporating elements into her radio hits, it’s easy to see that this genre is being propelled into the consciousness of the mainstream. And while I assumed
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites would be playing it safe to remain accessible to the public, I find that it’s anything but.
The first track, “Rock N' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)”, starts out innocently enough with an electronic greeting, but then a barrage of choppy effects and warbled sounds diverge in a seemingly disorganized fashion. And while some of the ideas aren’t strong enough, it turns out to be intriguing overall. “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” is next up, and again, it starts innocently enough with some soothing strings and electronic lead, but then it just gets downright filthy: growling, burping, bass-heavy electronics take over from there, switching back-and-forth between the intro’s melodic line. It’s another schizophrenic number, but the catchiness of the tune prevails after a couple of listens. “Kill Everybody”, following the same pattern as the two before it, also succeeds in being an interesting tune, but it seems to drone on for a bit near the end.
And while it seemed like the EP was going to be packed with the same pattern over and over again, the last three songs on the EP seek to shake things up. “All I Ask Of You” is a more straightforward electronica song, featuring terrific female vocals and an average melodic hook. “Scatta” switches gears from pop to rap, where Skrillex creates an interesting rap beat that strangely works, although the dup-step interludes don’t really help the flow of the song all that much. Finally, “With Your Friends (Long Drive)” is a remake of the track found on his first EP, and while it’s still an enjoyable tune, I find that the version found here takes a little too long to get going.
So what’s the verdict? As a guy who creeps out women and uses too much toilet paper, I can’t really say;
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites is certainly a good effort, but I can’t help but feel that there’s not a lot to come back to. As great as some of these tracks are, I find that only those who are just getting into the genre will find it interesting, while veterans of the genre will look elsewhere for better ideas. A solid EP with no bad tracks on it,
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites succeeds as being a perfect gateway for those who show interest in the genre, as it shows off some great elements and sounds, but it doesn’t hit it out of the park with tons of catchy, infectious ideas.
