Energetic punks Slaves at Pohoda 2017
Slaves released their debut album, Are You Satisfied?, on 1 June 2015. A week later, it ranked number 8 on the UK Album Chart and was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2015. In 2015, they were also nominated for the BBC Sound of 2015. This year, they played the main stage at Reading festival and the BBC praised them for their energetic set. This young band will play their political, cynical, ruthless, energetic punk of the 70’s with catchy garage guitar riffs of the 90’s at Pohoda 2017.
12. December 2016
“We saw Slaves at International Festival Forum Conference where agents introduce festival promoters to the hottest acts. Slaves played in the afternoon in front of “conference attendees” and transformed even this type of event into an impressive punk shindig. It was definitely the best show of Fall 2016. Isaac Holman is a drum genius that works like an oiled pneumatic hammer and apart from that, manages to sing and make incredible dance creations. An exceptional band, punk is definitely not dead,” says Michal Kaščák.
Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman won fans’ favor at a number of concerts played in the dingy venues of the British toilet circuit. Slaves can make a lot of noise for a duo. After the successful debut, they released a follow-up album Take Control at the end of September. This album fared even better than the debut, reaching number 6 in the UK Albums Chart. The track “Consume or Be Consumed” is a collaboration with Mike D of the Beastie Boys. Their energetic punk-rock, hardcore punk is accompanied by direct (unashamed) lyrics and their live performances make the audience ecstatic. Journalist at the Guardian, Kevin EG Perry, who joined the band on their 2015 tour, has a first-hand experience:
“Where’s Kevin EG Perry?” demands Vincent from the stage (at one of the shows). “Kevin! Kevin!” he continues, sounding like the mum from Home Alone. He turns to the audience: “Kevin’s a journalist and what journalists usually do is stand at the back and write about us. We want you to crowdsurf him for the whole of the next song. If you drop him, we’ll stop playing.” I’ve never crowdsurfed before, but it’s amazing how compliant you can be when a man has a microphone. As I loom over the crowd I remember why I’ve avoided it. My body is impractically long, and I wear size 13 clown boots. Against my expectations, the mass of teenagers take my weight just as Holman screams “Cheer Up London!” and launches into Slaves’ latest anthem, a slice of Fight Club-style existentialism that mocks the capital and its grumpy inhabitants.
The punk duo Slaves from Royal Tunbridge Wells will take the stage on 7 July 2017.