EP review: Spoils & Monkey Wrench – ‘Enemies In The Dance’

When ‘grime’ first started seeping through the cracks toward the early/mid 00’s, genre-classification was fairly straightforward. Back then, there was house and dance – further evolving to the likes of garage, of which all the above had sub-genres (funky house, vocal house, speed garage etc). Then there was the rise of the MC, becoming so mainstream that eventually fans (and critics too) had no idea where to position this fairly-new edition – was an MC over a simple beat more rap? Or was it UK hip-hop? How about the more impactful beats – is that where grime went in? Then there was the actual definition of grime – was it the beat or lyrics? Pretty convoluting stuff really.

However, fast-toward almost a decade, and genre-classification it seems, has been pushed to the back. The last two years has seen the UK be at the forefront of genre-mergment (that’s a term we’ve just coined by the way). Take the likes of Disclosure and Rudimental; the former whom have successfully fused two-step garage with twisted house, or the latter whose interesting take on dance with drum & bass has led both to worldwide acclaim. It’s these two acts where the Enemies In The Dance EP falls closest toward when defining it from a mainstream-perspective.

With the large-scale production techniques of Spoils aligning with Monkey Wrench’s house wonderfulness, their new collaborative EP is an interesting proposition; no less that we’re still unsure on how to classify it. That doesn’t mean Enemies In The Dance isn’t very good, mind, it’s more that, going back to our previous insight into ‘genre-classification’, we’re unsure of where to place it.

The 4-track project, which features two collaborations between Spoils and Monkey Wrench alongside a solo piece from each act, starts off with the impactful title-track. Grimey-beats galore with minimal vocal interjection, whilst massive in scale, felt that there was more that needed to be offered. It seemed for us that Enemies In The Dance (the track), was more of an incredibly-long interlude versus having any specific substance in its own right. Then again, the ‘dirty’ dub tends to have the tenacity of defining what the market is currently hearing in terms of new music, and sets the pace fairly well for what we’re hoping to hear over the next 3, 6, 12-months from Spoils and Monkey Wrench.

It’s On and On however that grips us almost instantly. There seems to be more of an air of dance-floor anthem in this one, a beat that would definitely set alight some of the grimiest of raves, and likewise fit in to a late-night DJ EZ set as a staple in its own right, versus a set-filler.

Meanwhile, Spoils’ own input into the project, with Grillz, has an air of an old Nesha What’s It Gonna Be sample on there (we’re still to find out if this is indeed the case, but a quick listen will no-doubt please garage-heads). Vocals however have not been left in place long-enough to move Grillz away from an instrumental-only piece, however for some inane reason, everything fits together well, errr, pretty well.

The four-track collection closes with Monkey Wrench’s own Morality, a dark-electronic beat, almost anthemic in parts, that would easily join On and On as formidable inclusions into a late-night jaunt at Glastonbury’s Shangri-La. Think Pryda’s Big Boss in terms of impact and you’re pretty-much halfway there.

Enemies In The Dance itself shows refinement, and class, however we’re still left confused as to where it sits. Each track has their own merits, but as a full collection, it does seem all over the place slightly. However, both the Spoils and Monkey Wrench camps have used the project to portray both their individual expertise as well as their collaborative possibilities, and as a first ‘official’ release, does well to excite us on what’s to follow. They’re vying for a different audience than say, the Chase & Stati of this world, and at this first stab we can see a promising future, however the issue that lies with us (and minor it may be, but still justified enough to mention), is the fluidity between each individual inclusion. It seems more of a ‘collection’ than a polished piece of work recorded with one focus. Nevertheless, we’d still recommend a purchase, and suggest joining the Spoils and Monkey Wrench bandwagon early on; with the likes of DJ EZ, B.Traits, My Nu Leng, Karma Kid, Dismantle and Klose One providing their support, the future could potentially be bright.

Enemies In The Dance is set for release on 31st March; hit the iTunes link below to purchase: