Sliding Doors - Kid Acne Single Review
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Single Review
Previous, occasionally acclaimed efforts by Kid Acne (AKA a host of aliases) have been self proclaimed as music for those who " left school at 16 only to come back pissed at break times…called your brief a twat during your first court appearance…[and]… fought with a female security guard outside Superdrug". If you don't fall into one of these categories, don't recoil immediately. It's also for people who like well produced South Yorkshire rap with lyrics that vary between inspired and drab. That's the review in a nutshell if you're making a decision whilst reading this on your palm-pilot at 5:29pm and the HMV security guards are sensing closing time and glowering at you from behind the new electronica.
If you're not cash-rich and time-poor then the following might be worth knowing:
The vocal style doesn't diverge from the time honoured half-shout established by the Beastie Boys in the nineties and moderated by a series of regional accents over the last four years. The production is excellent, and the remixes by Jehst and Todla T included on the single offer unique slants on the core vocals. Production and arrangement can only contribute so much in a rap track and the rest is down to the lyrical skill of its MC. On Sliding Doors, brilliant lines, "Knuckles tattooed with 'wife' and 'kids'", are immediately dragged down by sub-school filler - "I like beans, I like sauce, I love sexual intercourse".
The song's refrain:
Makes you think don't it,
like Sliding Doors ain't it?
was allegedly inspired by post-pub musings that seemingly trivial incidents can be Sliding Doors style life-changing events. Relaying those trivial incidents in an entertaining way requires top-notch writing and whilst Kid Acne is sometimes close, he's only intermittently bang on target. Firmly in his favour is the lack of any sense of posturing or artifice, he's a million miles from pretentious and here that's a clear plus point. Told straight, and far from (say) Jurassic Five's allegory and imagery, this is rap that will either grab you or disappoint you. Worth listening to for its curiosity value and the highlights which are, indeed, highlights, this just doesn't seem to have the depth of its genre-mates.
