Skream - You Know, Right?

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  • When Oliver Jones broke away from dubstep, he was stepping into a new world on wobbly legs. His first attempts at house, techno and disco were limp genre exercises—to the point where he was called out for using basic sample packs—and his DJ sets weren't much better. As recently as last year's Still Lemonade, he still sounded like a fish out of water. On You Know, Right?, his second Skream record for Crosstown Rebels, Jones suddenly finds his legs, in part because it's a return to form through an unexpected path. "You Know, Right?" is a straight-up breaks track, like something out of the early '00s, and it bangs. The drums land with a decisive thwack, the somber melody hints at trance and the vocal sample wails with the addictive repetition of UK bass music at its peak. It's a funny tune, dealing in sounds so unfashionable that they feel new again, all while calling back to the old Skream through its roots in drum & bass. "You Know, Right?" is easily the best thing he's released in years; Jones sounds like he's having fun rather than trying to craft au courant techno. The flipside, however, doesn't have the same spirit. A boilerplate Crosstown Rebels track if there ever was one, "Minor Smooth" limps by with canned melodrama and the most elementary drum sounds. It feels like a leftover from the "Still Lemonade" sessions, but "You Know, Right?" is a fun enough experiment to make the 12-inch worth a spin.
  • Tracklist
      A You Know, Right? B Minor Smooth
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