- Dubstep is in a strange place right now. Internet forum boards resemble refugee camps for jaded ex-junglists, bemoaning the creative standstill of drum n bass and its continued descent into cheesy, over-hyped rave territory. Which is why the rise of wobbly dubstep dominated by piercingly overt synths is so very perplexing. It is as if this style has emerged from a vacuum, blissfully unaware of the misgivings of its older sibling.
Rusko is one such artist who has come under fire for pushing a sound that emphasizes the elements so many former junglists grew to despise in DnB. So much so that dubsteppers have taken to lazily tagging this sound as “jump-up”, hastily snatching the term from this much maligned subset of jungle.
Indeed ‘Gone Too Far’ is eerily reminiscent of the most obnoxious, brash sounds of new-school DnB, albeit juxtaposed with the most generic of half-step rhythms. Sadly, the flipside fares no better. Endlessly wobbly, insistently squealing synths lodge their way into the listener’s ear, sounding not unlike a TC remix of Clipse on 33. This kind of mid-range tomfoolery and simplified beatplay is exactly the thing that inspires the most heated vexations from discerning junglists, and likewise, their dubstep brethren. Hence Rusko’s take on dubstep seems like a distinct step backwards for the genre.
One moment of relief comes in the mildly comedic phone message skit in the breakdown, as label mate Caspa states: “Rusko, its Capsa. What the fuck are you doing?! This is bollocks, you’ve gone too far this time!” Quite. Could it be that the title of the A-track is a knowing acknowledgment of pushing the stylistic template of Coki’s ‘Spongebob’ beyond all reasonable measure? Whatever the case, the ensuing racket makes for dubstep of the most obnoxious order. A soulless agitation, utterly devoid of groove or nuance.
TracklistA Gone 2 Far
B 2 N A Q