“I love Slaves!”
- A risqué utterance on public transport, but a celebration call of punk’s revival amongst a group of the musically savvy. The band of two, Laurie Vincent on guitar, bass, vocals and Isaac Holman on drums and vocals are from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent and formed in 2012. After an absence of punk from the mainstream, Slaves elbowed their way through the masses, possibly encouraged by the popularity of the Grime genre that has a similar tone of ‘screw you’, to become skin headed stars.
The gig began with a rally cry against the “Tyrant Trump” from Isaac, followed by the suggestively timed new song Rich Man which got the Exeter Hall geared up for a frenzy, but not with fists as one might think as Slaves are, at heart really sweet guys as anyone who has listened to their interviews on Radio 1 will know. The mosh pits of tattooed dads, head bangers, teenagers and girls letting go were so refreshing; no one brawled and my friend’s 14 year old brother even joined in for his first experience of a live gig just proving Slaves’ ability to communicate to all ages and types of people. The new album Take Control is witty, playful and full of angst similarly to their first and I truly believe that Slaves have broken punk’s chains and freed it to rampage against the messy world we face today.
Image Sourced from: http://www.hitthefloor.com/music/9-amazing-photos-slaves-great-hall-exeter/