Leg Puppy, in their infinite wisdom and kindness, have gifted Joyzine with the world exclusive of the video for their track ‘Paycheck (Take My Life)’ which is taken from their recent album A Guide to Social Distancing of which I said “Leg Puppy are… willing to tickle your pleasure centre as much as wanting to challenge the listener’s principles. EDM is usually about escape from reality and, while this is often the perfect outcome, it’s refreshing to have electronica combined with a keen sense of humanity”
And that is very much in evidence with ‘Paycheck (Take My Life)’ which is an antonym to the misguided optimism of ‘Viva Las Vegas’. It starts with a title card that proclaims, “There are 1.4 million problem gamblers in the UK alone, are betting companies and the Betting Watchdog doing enough?”. Troubled by a friend of the band who became addicted and lost everything Leg Puppy“…wrote the track as a protest against all the betting shops that rip away the soul from our high streets.”
Since ‘The Gambling Act of 2005’ liberalised the advertising of gambling we have been bombarded with adverts for online casinos, betting on sporting fixtures through app-based versions of the high street shops, bingo, slots and so on. They either feature happy punters bouncing on their sofas and message-chatting with mates, dancing foxes, cool-dudes, or geezer-men/known TV pundits encouraging us to ‘have a flutter’. This is likely to be at odds (pun intended) with the reality of someone at home alone sticking digital pound coins into a virtual slot machine and anyone who’s ever been in a betting shop outside of Grand National day will probably attest to the distinct lack of dancing foxes and hugging friends.
The track itself has an ominous build to a motorik beat which drives this along and is swarmed by splashes, ticks, bloops and other musical curlicues which make the brain fizz. It’s as urgent as the lyrics (printed below) which opines betting as it equates to drug use and hopes punters will set their limits, never spend more than they can afford or put betting ahead of their friends and family. In the video we see the shadowy Leg Puppy clown shuffling through the streets with all his possessions. Is he roaming aimlessly due to the closure of the betting shops we see him standing outside or does he have a broom to help ‘clean’ up the problem? You be the judge but as I have said about Leg Puppy before they are a club night with a conscience and despite the usual betting advice, in this case, when the track stops, don’t stop, hit replay.
Review by Paul F Cook
Take my pay check. Take me money. Make a bet
Take my soul. The odds are set
Sell my house. Take my wife. Sell my car. Take my life
Take my pay check. Take my pay check
Take my pay check. Take my weekly pay check
In play. In the shop
Unlimited. I can’t Stop!
Fixed odds. Crack cocaine
Where is the legislation?
[CHORUS]
When the fun stops, stops
Set your limits, only spend What you can afford
Never chase your loses, don’t play if you’re angry or frustrated,
Never put gambling before your friends and family
[CHORUS]