Review: Slaves // Are You Satisfied

For many years my dad has plonked CD’s and Vinyls down on my desk of old punk bands. “You’ll like this” he’d say and I did. I’ve always enjoyed kicking back and listening to some Clash and the Sex Pistols.

You see my dad grew up with the punk movement, the politically motivated, hard hitting movement that dominated the rock sub culture in the 70′s. Something remembered by everyone, and loved by many,it brought rebellion and angst to the forefront of music and allowed people to protest in a new and popular way.

But as with many great era’s of music it died away long before I was born in 1996 and to me, and I’m sure to many others, modern popular music is drab, dreary and meaningless. With the exception of a few bands, angry meaningful music was dead.

FInally, however there may be hope.

Halfway through April, my sat me down and said “We need to see this band Slaves”, I didnt think too much about it, it was a cheap gig so I decided to go.

The night before the gig was the first time I listened to any of their music, I switched on soundcloud and listened to their song ‘The Hunter’. From the first note to the very last note I felt as if I had my brain smashed out with a punk rock sized brick. It was incredible. A fantastic riff, a brilliant tune and a thumping beat matched with brilliant lyrics that meant something. A protest song.

The next 24 hours went so slowly, I hadn’t been this excited for a gig in a long time. We trundled down to Portsmouth to a fantastic venue called The Wedgewood Rooms. The two support bands were brilliant and everyone was fired up and ready for the show. While we waited they had reggae music playing over the system, not the normal choice for a punk band, all of a sudden the lights dimmed.

An explosion of noise erupted around the venue, the first notes of ‘The Hunter’ twanged out and the whole crowd appeared to stop still before becoming a frenzied mass of bodies moshing and dancing to the rebirth of punk.

During the gig and after I had never felt such a buzz of an excitement, such an atmosphere around a band whose first album went unnoticed by most of the world. Within weeks they appeared on Radio 1′s live lounge. Bringing this brilliant sound to the country again.


They have received the first Kerrang Spirit of Punk award, and I’m sure many more are to follow after a magnificent first album. The very same album which I plonked down on my dads desk and said “You’ll like this”.

(10/10)

-Luke