Imagine a record that manages to capture the sounds of prime time Pulp and some alt bands from yesteryear like XTC and that hard to pigeon hole post-punk and you pretty much have cornered yourself some Slumb Party. The songs pretty mu7ch all feature a throbbing bass some angular jarring guitars  and some coooool synth licks and to round it all of there are also some really jazzy saxophone stabs like the fantastic ‘Shingles Bells’ I’d imagine these guys n gal have in the past (or present) been influenced by The Fall and the likes of XTC and the X-Ray Spex and bands like Buzzcocks and magazine.  It’s fair to say at times they have a splash of colour like the Briefs.  I love the vigour and runaway train that is ‘Time To Stop’ that rumble of the bass with the rapid snare beats is fantastic against that vacant synth lick but the vocals are shaking away like they’re trying to shake themselves off the record.  In contrast, the next track is a vacant bored slice of desperation entitled ‘~Existance’ that throws up comparisons of the likes of Cabbage.

‘Back Stabber’ is like an indie Stooges and the saxophone is majestic as is that funhouse bass pinch n slap. this would give Julian Cope a run for his money and in a tight club, I can imagine the walls would be sweating along to the screams of this jazzy little number. Who would have thought Nottingham would throw up one of the alternative albums of the year with the East midlands turning up trumps again with the likes of RPM favs The hip Priests and TV Crime hailing from this neck of the woods or should that be forest?

I was wracking my brain to think who it was who the vocals and some of the tunes reminded me of and when ‘Sound Off’ sped through my speakers The name Richard Hell sprang to mind and sure on the more punky end of the scale there is certainly an element caught up in the tunes. Even though it’s quite the eclectic album there is a cohesive thread throughout the album and the quality is high and the songs are engaging throughout without ever getting too experimental or jazzy.

Right down to the last number – the title track with that saxophone howling I’m impressed and the B52’s chanting of the vocals is really appealing. Slumb Party deliver a really excellent album of alternative music songs like the one in the video below made me dig out my International Noise conspiracy albums because I love that garage keyboard sound theres more to this than greets the ears.  check em out!

Author: Dom Daley

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