Sleemo - Heavenly Home ( I’m In Your Mind)
I first saw Sleemo fairly soon after they formed. I enjoyed what they were doing, there was charisma but I didn’t hear anything that particularly stood out. Decent alt/punk bands are ten-a-penny. As much as I love that genre, it takes something pretty special to stand out. A little over a year after that first encounter, Sleemo have grown into something quite special.
Following a pair of very fine EPs, new single Heavenly Home (I’m In Your Mind) is a stormer. Billy Utting’s guitar starts with a gentle, Nirvana-gone-Middle Eastern figure before building into a riff reminiscent of Swans, whilst his vocals somehow combine Mudhoney’s Mark Arm with Howard Devoto and the late, great Pete Shelley (both of Buzzcocks). The rhythm section of Jacob Brooks (drums) and Jack Andrews (bass) thunder along like early Killing Joke.
I’m not saying that Sleemo sound like the most popular alt/punk bands - Idles, Fontaines DC or The Murder Capital - but, like fellow Norwich band Other Half, what Sleemo are doing is at least as good as what those acts are doing. Check ‘em out.
9/10
