Slaves - Are You Satisfied? (Album Review)

Slaves are a duo punk band from Kent, who formed in 2012. The duo consists of Laurie Vincent on guitar and vocals, and Issac Holman on drums and vocals. After releasing a few singles, Slaves prepared their first full album called 'Are You Satisfied?'. The album was recently released on the 1st of June 2015. Similar to Circa Waves, these two lads are all over my Instagram feed! Therefore, I was intrigued to see what all of the fuss was about; so here goes...

'The Hunter' is the first song on the album; and it starts off with a garage rhythm on the guitar, which remains pretty constant throughout the first verse. Then the guitar gradually begins to get heavier, resulting in the lyrics being very harsh:

"The lion in the jungle shows no shame, it shows no pride. It does what it needs to, to stay strong and to survive."

Then when the mood gets even more heavier & aggressive they angrily spit out the words:

"You can keep it, we don't want it. Keep smiling through your teeth."

This track is very alternative to other songs out there, as it covers all of the worlds problems in indignated punk rage. The track covers the topics of; hunting, global warming, the homeless & unemployed, crime and the government.

'Cheer Up London' is the second track on this feisty punk album and it introduces itself with a very intimidating laugh, accompanied by some basic guitar & simple drums. Due to the repetitive and constant beat with lyrics of -

"Cheer up London it's not that bad!"

And

"Dead already! Dead, dead already!"

This will most likely make this track one of the more memorable songs off the album.

'Sockets' is the third track on this rampageful album and this is probably my favourite off the album, as it is the closest to a love song that you will actually get on the album. It introduces itself with a calm, 15 second instrumental, before the heavier guitar and clamorous drums kick in.

"She doesn't know if it's a blessing or a curse. Money in her hand, but never any in her purse."

Slaves perfectly elocute all of their words, even with their pacy punk beat & attitude attached to it.

'Wow!!!7AM' is also one of my more favourable tracks off the album. Showing its frustration to young people who are doing nothing with their life.

"I don't remember the last time I saw 7am."

The lyrics are very relatable to the age genre of 18-25, so ideally people who have left the educational system, and are currently unemployed. However, they may think that slaves are relating to them; but they're not. Slaves are frustrated at people who don't remember the last time they saw 7am and illustrate their point as they sarcastically say -

"Wow!!! 7AM" 

On the other hand I think that one of the weaker tracks on the album has to be 'Despair and Traffic' as it is overly repetitive and rather bland and boring.

Like many albums, Slaves also have a song which is meant to represent the album as a whole; being the same title as the album. Therefore that track is called 'Are You Satisfied?' This song has an acoustic instrumental, straight away I knew that I was going to like it. This is the paradox. I was starting to get a bit apprehensive, as I was bored of listening to similar songs with the same aggressive beats and therefore I think that by adding an acoustic track half way through the album was a very well thought-out idea.

'Ninety Nine' is surprisingly the only explicit track on the album and they only swear once, at the beginning. With its rhythmic lines & constant beat I think this track has the potential to be one of the more memorable and well-known songs off the album. 

"I can't understand why ninety-nine percent of the time..."

The album ends with one of the more exceptional songs off the album called 'Sugar Coated Bitter Truth.'

"Don't trust the flies, they're government spies. Sit you down at the table and force feed you lies."

In conclusion I think that Slaves sound heavily inspired by the Sex Pistols with their heated punk rage, however I also sense a bit of Jamie T in their vocals (inspired by 'Panic Prevention'). The album as a whole appears very rushed due to the same one- liners being constantly repeated throughout their songs. Admittedly due to some of the songs on the album sounding rushed, it appears as if they may have run out of ideas. The only well throughout songs in the album were 'The Hunter' and 'Sugar Coated Bitter Truth'. Even though I recommended a few other songs such as; 'Sockets', 'Wow!!!7AM', 'Are You Satisfied?' and 'Ninety Nine'. That is only due to the repetitiveness working well, even if the songs did appear slightly rushed. Therefore I would not recommend this repetitive, rage-full and rushed album.

Maybe next time slaves.

6/10