Slaves - Are You Satisfied?

If you don’t know who Slaves are, you haven’t listened to one word I’ve told you in the past year. Isaac and Laurie might look like yobs but are actually gentle biscuit lovers. They make extraordinary loud, brash music, and if you’ve ever seen them live, you’ll never ever forget it. A surprising omission in this collection is the brutally honest and mindblowing White Knuckle Ride from a couple years ago. The album starts with The Hunter, with Nirvana’’s Bleach-esque chord changes, and moves swiftly onto Cheer Up London with beautifully syncopated chorus “You’re dead already!” There are a few songs on there  which don’t quite hit the mark entirely…Despair and Traffic and Do Something, written during a breakdown with their manager are a little bit meh, as is Are You Satisfied. However, Wow!!! 7am is pure Marigold by Nirvana in its melody and pace, Ninety nine is a ballsy, beefy track about stupid but pretty ladies that makes me want to smash something in. In a good way. And the bitey, scary Hey is an instant classic. As Issac sums up nicely in The Hunter, “We are saying what you are thinking, and that shocks and frightens you”. Slaves will help you bear what life throws at you. Buy this album.