Earning themselves a place on the NME Awards Tour alongside The Wytches, Fat White Family and Palma Violets, Kent’s two piece punk outfit Slaves played a thunderous show tonight. Having already played a few nights across the UK, this one, in the grandiose setting of Kentish Town’s Forum, will probably have been the one they were most looking forward to and the boys clearly had no nerves about the size of the occasion.
Having accumulated a solid following in the short time they’ve been on our radars, Slaves fans arguably seemed the most enthusiastic of the night with their brand of post-punk attitude conjuring the most lively of crowds.
Image-wise, they are far from what you’d expect if you’ve only listened to their music. Adidas track suit top and short back & sides is hardly the first look you’d associate with a band belting out punk tunes with such a raw ugliness. Either way, as a spectacle, it works. Plain and simple.
Running through big tracks from their album ‘Sugar Coated Bitter Truth,’ every song was anthemic – lead-singer Isaac Holman somehow managing to show absolutely no sign of fatigue even whilst pelting the fuck out of his drums for the entire set. It seemed that those who hadn’t previously listened to Slaves were quickly encapsulated by the intensity of their performance; their live shows without doubt the perfect place to get your first taste of what the band are all about.
In terms of pure fast-paced exhilaration, this set was without doubt the strongest of the night with ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie’ and ‘The Hunter‘ certain highlights of the show – the lyrics “it’s reckless, and pointless but it’s also very fun” a perfectly relevant synopsis of what was a massive set.
