ALBUM REVIEW: Slalom D – Happy Skies (self-released)
Sunderland has a habit of producing fine punk bands over the years: Red Alert, The Toy Dolls, Red London, Leatherface and Loaded 44 to name just a few.
You can now add Slalom D to that list, thanks to this absolute rip-snorter of a debut album.
Formed in 2018, they’ve overcome the tragedy of losing original singer Craig Macbeth the following year, picked themselves up, and emerged even stronger.
His replacement was Fiona Duncan, who’d never been in a band before, but you’d never believe it from her powerful voice and stage presence.
Slalom D are an unashamedly political band who nail their colours firmly to the mast; left-wing, anti-fascist, opinionated, humanitarian – everything a good punk band should be.
This album, a year in the making, is full of huge guitar riffs, bludgeoning drums and driving bass, and sets their stall out perfectly for anyone who’s never heard the band before.
Wall of noise
Guitarist Gary Roberts, Tony Lindstedt on bass and Iain Murray on drums kick up a wall of noise that’s hard to ignore, but there’s plenty of melody here, and they’ll soon have your foot tapping along.
Phil Jackson, who recorded and produced the album at The Bunker in Sunderland, has made a superb job of capturing their live sound – think Dead Kennedys meets Killing Joke and you’re not far off.
588 is a great opening track, about the all-female aviators of the night bomber regiment of the Soviet air force, who earned the nickname ‘Night Witches’ from invading German forces during World War Two.
It’s followed by Altar, which addresses the sort of blind consumerism where advertisers have convinced us we need bigger and better everything.
Final Girl, released as the lead single, has a message of female empowerment which is impossible to ignore, while Reset optimistically insists that we have a choice over how we live out lives post-pandemic.
Another Room sounds like a tribute to late singer Craig. There’s real feeling as Fe sings: “It’s 10 o’ clock in the evening, and I’m standing where you should be”. The chorus of “I thought I saw you today, walking through the town” will strike a chord with anyone struggling to come to terms with the loss of a loved one.
Step Out Of Line, about the refugee crisis which has seen dead babies washed up from the Med, is possibly the best track here (though that changes every time I listen to the album). It’s a really thought-provoking song, full of understated power, asking “when are we all gonna wake up? thought-provoking.
G.L.A.M., another contender for standout track, addresses the issue of women’s safety, and is particularly poignant in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder and other recent cases.
In truth, there’s not a weak link among the 11 tracks, and I’ve been playing this album non-stop since I picked up a copy when Slalom D supported The Rezillos at the Cluny (reviewed here).
You can get your hands on one from Slalom D’s Bandcamp page HERE or better still, go to one of their gigs. You won’t regret it. 9/10.
