By Kate Birch
If you hadn’t caught their characteristically ungainly twitter announcement, Slaves are back – and with music, not just impulsive tweets about Phil Mitchell. The first track of the new album is out, and despite mixed reviews, it was definitely enough to get me excited about the upcoming music.
To be perfectly honest I would have been more than happy if Slaves had just continued to release the promo ‘dance tutorials’ and called it an album, but the sound of their latest track did not disappoint.
Tastefully understated (as tasteful as Slaves can get that is) and a little bit different to their previous singles. ‘Cut And Run’ is still dripping with that zany punk attitude that makes the band what they are. The track is more of a halfway house between the incongruously minimalist ‘Steer Clear’, and their notoriously unruly track ‘where’s your car Debby’. It adds to the trend of slightly more subdued tracks; less flash mob, more mosh-pit. Their previous album ‘take control’ paved the way for this less anarchistic sound with songs like ‘lies’ and ‘rich man’ which are notably musically tighter, albeit less intense. But then again, the last album did also feature the angry whirlwind ‘f*ck the hi-hat’, so i could be very wrong.
Slaves are single-handedly reviving the punk genre, and ‘cut and run’ does them every bit of justice. Known for the high-octane insanity they bring to the studio, the new track is a little more on the quiet side than the usual. That seems to have split opinions, But in my opinion, it takes nothing away from the track. Albeit you can’t hear Isaac’s vocal chords splinter, but it’s a definite set list track – loud, boisterous and charmingly unrefined.
Grimy power chords, relentless drumming and Slave’s iconic, slap-happy vocals – what more could you want?
