Slaves’s last single “The Hunter” is a three-minute wall of noise. A spiky guitar riff leads the way before drummer/vocalist Isaac Holman announces his presence with the rattle of a symbol and spits lyrics that reference climate change like Johnny Rotten reading a Greenpeace pamphlet. The other half of Slaves, guitarist Laurie Vincent, takes the riff up a notch before the track descends into chaos as a stage whisper calls “The Hunter”, Vincent’s guitar sounds like a rusty chainsaw and Holman smashes his drums to pieces. Eventually comes the refrain “It’s reckless and pointless/but it’s also very fun.” Never has a truer word been spoken.
Slaves are making the most noise a duo has made since The White Stripes and are causing a proper fuss amongst the music press. Their reputation as a live band is already preceding them – their headline slot at The Victoria in Dalston sold out in less than two hours and they’ve just secured the opening slot on the NME Awards Tour 2015, following in the footsteps of Franz Ferdinand and Florence and the Machine. Hailing from Kent and on a mission to cut swathes through a music landscape flooded with generic EDM, Slaves are set to make a serious impact over the next 12 months. They will be at most major festivals this summer.
