Slutch No Way Out EP
Young (and I would like to emphasize “young,” as the bass player is only twelve years old) Mancunian band out via First Strike Records (their first new band signing in thirty-three years), a mythic label that Alan Woods of Alan’s Records started in the ’90s. So what is the fuss all about? Their music is very honest, a hard quality to have in this day and age, and it fluctuates between the aggressiveness of hardcore from the catalog of Dischord or SST and the guitar-driven noise experimentation of shoegaze and no wave. Opener “Will I Ever Leave” paints a dreamlike sonic picture that takes a page from MY BLOODY VALENTINE with its distorted guitars layered over dreamy vocals, and second track “Change Me” starts with a scream that could easily be on any DYSTOPIA record. There’s a sense of reckless abandon in their sound, yet it’s clear that every chaotic moment is crafted with intention. SLUTCH is a band that’s impossible to ignore, and No Way Out paves the way for a bright future ahead!