Total Slacker’s latest album, Slip Away, is akin to a musical Oreo cookie. On either end, you have the crunchy exterior (In this case the Killing Joke rocker of an opener “Out of Body Experience” and the Bleach-ed sounds of “I Don’t Want To Be A Yuppie” to close) covering this gooey, sugary filling that just makes the overall cookie that much better.
Post-punk, Post-rock, grunge….what’s the point of a label when you have bands like Total Slacker just making great quality music? If the aforementioned tracks don’t hook you then any number of songs on here are bound to. “Keep The Ships At Bay” is another solid rocker followed by the lo-fi drone of “Sometimes You Gotta Die” with a massive wall of sound which meanders into Pixies (and Failure) territory at times. Bassist/vocalist Emily Jane and Guitarist/vocalist Tucker Rountree complement each other perfectly on “U Ever Been Satisfied?” as their respective instruments speak to each other just as they do through their mics. Meanwhile, “Who Killed Kennedy” slams relentlessly thanks to drummer James Colon as Chris Topah adds that second guitar on top.
As far as sophomore albums go, Slip Away is tops. If you like your rawk honest and loud, then Total Slacker’s latest is definitely an album you’ll want to check out.
Slip Away is out now on Black Bell Records. Be sure to head over here to see where you can catch them live this summer (July 21st at Brighton Music Hall and July 24th at Pearl Street for us Massholes) and go here to get their latest album.