Slaves - Acts Of Fear And Love
Back in 2014 I was lucky enough to see Slaves twice; once opening at the Waterfront and again headlining Epic, I really rated them. Yet I have not seen them since and have kinda lost track of the Tunbridge Wells duo despite their debut LP Are You Satisfied and second album Take Control hitting the UK top 10.
This third album is for the most part, still based around thrashing, oi! guitar, and drums topped off with Isaac’s sneering vocals. Yet there are traces of an urban angst here that may take as much from grime as it does from punk polemic.
There is nothing here as brilliantly exciting as early singles Beautyquest or Where’s Your Car, Debbie? Maybe it is the limitation of the guitar-drum-vocal duo format but, in places, this feels a little like a band running out of inspiration. That said, Cut and Run and Chokehold are classic Slaves singles, Daddy could almost be Half Man Half Biscuit and the title track may just be the best thing they have done.
6/10
