Leg Puppy don’t mind people getting under the bonnet of their tracks. In fact, I would say they positively encourage people to tinker with the engine, go through their toybox and walk a mile in their EDM shoes. Paycheck – The Remixes is one of a number of remix sets they have released over the last few years, including the recent Leg Puppy vs Dicepeople which I reviewed for Joyzine back in September. This time around ‘Paycheck’ gets the furniture rearranged with the help of producer exire who produced the last album A guide to social distancing. Even from a cursory look online it appears that the dark side of this 10-billion-pound industry is around 430,000* struggle with some form of gambling addiction and that only 5% of these people seek help**. Paycheck may sample the tropes of betting shop and fruit machine but nowadays we can gamble 24 hours a day in digital casinos, online slots and bingo.
The album version of ‘Paycheck’ focuses more on the beats and creates a dreamlike world in which the warnings about gambling are in the mix but not completely front and centre (it’s track 3 on this EP). The remixes on tracks 1 and 2 get a little more under the skin of gambling addiction and place the lyrics to the fore with less focus on the EDM side and includes vocals from Bev as well as some deft guitar playing from Vaat da Fuq of Autorotation which gives the feeling of a ‘Black Mirror’ version of The B-52’s. The Mug’s Game remix – focuses on warping reality and creates a nightmarish, constantly shifting landscape that throws in choirs, a music box, echoed voice as if to give voice to the torment inside the mind of a troubled gambler. Track 5 is a vocal free instrumental version so you can use the lyrics below for your own karaoke version.
Once again Leg Puppy have admirably demonstrated their ‘club night with a conscience’ ethos and although education and entertainment are often uncomfortable bedfellows this romp under the EDM duvet is the kind of fun that shouldn’t stop.
Review by Paul F Cook
If you know anyone with a gambling problem or are affected yourself, then you can visit these sites for more information:
https://about.gambleaware.org/
https://www.begambleaware.org/
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/gambling-addiction/
* & ** Stats from Providence Project
Paycheck Lyrics
Take my money. Make a bet. Sell my soul. The odds are set
Take my house. Take my wife. Take my car. Take my life
Take my paycheck. Take my paycheck
Take my paycheck. Take my weekly paycheck
In play. In the shop, unlimited. I can’t Stop!
Fixed odds. Crack cocaine. Where is the legislation?
Take my paycheck. Take my paycheck
Take my paycheck. Take my weekly paycheck
When the fun stops, stops
Set your limits. Only spend what you can afford
Never chase your losses. Don’t play if you’re angry or frustrated
Never put gambling before your friends and family
Take my paycheck. Take my paycheck
Take my paycheck. Take my weekly paycheck