aaamusic | On 22, Jan 2012

Two tracks from two people with one vision: snarling, malevolent garage punk. Slaves sound like they fell right out of Crass’ inner circle. Primitive drumming, no-nonsense guitars, and sheer venom oozing from the vocals. ‘Cease Fire’ is a blunt, provocative windup of a track, with a simple rhythm and furious guitars wrapped around a vitriolic yet confusing mindset. ‘Wishing Well’ is the smarter track, in terms of lyrics and instrumentation. There is a discernible, off-kilter riff afoot, and the drums are booming and strict yet playful, in keeping with the angry yet witty attitude in general. Lyrically this makes more sense too, with Slaves actually getting their point across far more clearly than in the previous track.

It’s hard to pass judgement on the back of two tracks that sound like they were recorded on old sellotape, but I think if Slaves keep down the path that’s got songs like ‘Wishing Well’ they could be onto something. Well, I think it sounds like The Ramones covering The Slits’ Gibus Club recordings, and I think there may be a fair few people out there who’d get a kick out of that.

 

Katie H-Halinski