Get a Load of This? No Thanks
The press release describes Slunt as 'a hard rock band's hard rock band', but the description is pretty far removed from the reality. There's no doubt that as musicians, the band are solid, but they're lacking in creativity and the vocals are all over the place most of the time.
Take 'OK, OK', the first song on the album. It's not that the tune is bad, although a fairly standard rocker, but singer Abby Gennet's voice does my head in. It's so self-consciously trying to be hard-bitten and sexy that they come across as more of fifteen-year-oldish. And that's before I even mention the lyrics which border on the ridiculous, like 'You're so cute with your Jager buzz on/ Punk haircut and your malnutrition' - it makes no sense. The same thing could be said for 'Loved by You', which also has the misfortune of sounding just like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
'Never Say Never' is best just glossed over. At first it's ok, but after the first five listens, the trying-to-sound-knowing spoken word vocals grate so much and there are so many better choruses than 'I might like you better if we slept together/But there's something in your eye that says maybe never... say never'. Which leads me on to the chaotic mess of 'Fast City Girls'. The guitars on the chorus are schizo, and the vocals are annoying, but the lyrics are quite clever. Apart from that, it just a chugging garage rock number. However,There are some decent tracks on the record - 'All that I've Got', 'I Wanna Be Your Only One', 'Not About You', and 'Waiting For You'.
'All That I've Got' and 'Waiting For You' are two brazen, metal beasts, and have some of the only decent vocals on the whole album. They really suit the tunes, which has undertones of Breed 77 (not a bad thing at all). Slunt get all intense on us for 'I Wanna Be Your Only One', which starts off quiet and sinister before suddenly breaking into a punk romp. A combination of grunge and punk works well together. Finally, 'Not About You' may sound just like Hole, even the vocals, but that doesn't stop it being good.
All in all, this is not an album I would recommend. It's too messy, for a start, and there aren't enough songs like 'All That I've Got' and 'Not About You'.