SLAVES | LIVE REVIEW AND INTERVIEW
Hobos, Bridgend, Thurs 8 Sept
Anyone walking through the quiet streets of Bridgend last Thursday may have noticed a few transparent sheets had appeared in the crevices of the town, with a pink or blue balaclava glaring out at passersby. To most this could be misconstrued as a random artist or form of graffiti, but to those who follow the movements of these two musicians, this is the badge of visitation from Kent indie-punk duo Slaves.
Most shows total at least two hours of music throughout the evening, but the stated set times for the headliners and support act Estrons promised the sold-out crowd just an hour and 15 minutes. This may have seemed disappointing to someone who had nearly broken their keyboard, determined to nab a ticket, but this is Slaves, and Slaves certainly do not disappoint.
When we walked into Hobos’ dressing room, guitarist Laurie Vincent pedalled his bike around the seating area in a continuous circle, ready to kick-start the interview. Having travelled from their last show (and family BBQ) in Brighton, Vincent and drummer Isaac Holman spoke about their reasoning behind the choice of small venues for their Back Of The Van tour and their simple yet effective music videos.
“This is what we started off doing and we wanted to remind ourselves why we started doing this in the first place,” said Laurie, still perched on his bike seat and leaning over the handlebars. “We also like the idea of giving people an insight into our life, instead of going into a studio and doing something big and dramatic.”
Cardiff quintet Estrons appeared to be practically buzzing with impatience to get started. From their latest EP Drop, we were treated to both its title track and Make A Man, with a number of contributing tracks building the atmosphere until their take on indie rock had the venue bouncing. Tali Källström’s strong demeanour with the microphone blended her soothing voice and banshee screams, revealing her true colours in terms of confidence and talent.
After a quick scurry by punters to refuel at the bar, out walked Isaac and Laurie – the drummer stepping out with a visible self-assurance, rocking a pair of white cuffs, red shorts and a bow tie that gave him the resemblance of a young Chris Pontius. “We are Slaves, we are a rock duo,” he announced as the duo blasted into Sockets. Space between patrons became intensely tight with a moshpit erupting left, right and centre. Their hardboiled, anti-establishment punk anthems included Cheer Up London, Spit It Out and Beauty Quest from their first two albums, Sugar Coated Bitter Truth and Are You Satisfied?, maintaining a state of sweaty upheaval as people reached down deep and sang as hard as they possibly could.
Obscenities were thrown in the direction of Brexit, accompanied by Isaac declaring, “Rich man, I am not your bitch.” Being interviewed earlier, the boys were more than happy to divulge their current thoughts involving British politics.
“We were not happy about the leave vote at all. We are proud to be British but we’re not proud of our current situation with the EU. I mean we are all humans and the ideas of borders and national pride doesn’t make any sense to us.”
Slaves are concerned of the public being metaphorically blindfolded to the reality of current events. “We have played countries all around the world and met a lot of cool people. It’s frustrating when these people have such strong opinions and they don’t know the world outside of their small town. It’s our responsibility to bring up a new generation who will have a better insight, whereas our generation weren’t that encouraged to get involved or have an opinion.”
Their aptitude for party-hard vibes has always been a winning attribute of the pair and, anticipating their European tour this autumn, being reminded of spending Halloween in Amsterdam got Isaac excited. “Are we? Wicked! It’s my birthday on the 30th too so we’ll have to celebrate!”
Closing the show with arguably their most famous track, The Hunter, there was no denying that their short visit to the Welsh town had turned out to be a complete success.
Slaves’ music has always spoken for those trapped in mediocre, underpaid jobs who are constantly belittled for their place in society and the struggle of feeling you cannot achieve your goals. When asked what advice they would share with people suffering in this way, Laurie said, “We were those people. No one can tell you what you’re capable and not capable of and life isn’t grafted around following society’s rules of getting a career, going to university and all that shit.”
Isaac and Laurie are representatives of those shackled by poorly paid routine and clipped wings, with a quirky sense of humour and a sweet new album, set to be released on Fri 30 Sept.
words and photos NATHAN ROACH
