The Slats are awesome, and you can see in their swagger that they probably know that, which is what their fans love about them. The Slats have enough bravado to make the catchiest summer pop song you’ve ever heard, and then turn around and pull off some knock-you-on-your-ass noise rock with no apologies: quick and easy, like ripping a band-aid off your hairy arm.
Boom Patrol is the newest release from The Slats. On Boom Patrol, The Slats return to the basement on a quest for more “skronk and venom” and produce an album that is anything but lo-fi. The slightly divergent songwriting styles of J Hansen and B Cox create a captivating mix of punk and power pop with skuzzy distortion and alternating bouts of ranting and crooning.
Many of the songs on Boom Patrol could be the soundtrack to The Slats' own demented comic book, chronicling the lives of heroes and villains, bitter love stories, and seething revenge. “Ironman” (no, not that one) opens the album with an appropriately comical call-to-action, going into a wild vocal and guitar intro, as if to say “Listen up!” The vaguely Ramones-ish title track also throws in a hip-hop influenced (yeah, I said it) call-and-response chorus and somehow it all works.
That’s the thing about The Slats – you won’t be sure how they pull this shit off, but they undeniably do, and they’re not modest about it. While The Slats are on the offense for most of the record, with power chords (“Bash the Plastic”), shouted lyrics (“Ignatius”), and heavy rhythms (“Erase U”), you’ll also find songs like “Call My Telephone” and “King of Hawaii” that are so filled with hooks you’d think it was Billy Joel writing for The Adicts. Like it or not (but you WILL like it), The Slats’ influences have that kind of diversity; The Slats are the offspring of the Titans of rock and roll.
The Slats have been a band since the turn of the century. Beginning as the colicky brainchild of B Cox and eventually evolving into a lifestyle for him, J Hansen, and Mark Tietjen, The Slats are an entity existing in a whole other dimension of intense fun, increased decibels, and absolutely no rules… except for one – touring. The band calls Minneapolis home, but their van – “Robocop Killer” - is truly where they bare their chests. The Slats have been on the road consistently since 2002 and aren’t planning to let up anytime soon.
The Slats did take a few months off in 2006 to perfect the aesthetics of Boom Patrol in the aforementioned basement, also known as Red Tape II, at B Cox’s house. Red Tape II also produced the recent critically acclaimed album from fellow Minnesotans The Blind Shake.
When they’re not playing music, The Slats can be found on Mt Olympus reading comic books and magazines about computers and recording equipment. And talking about how much their band rules. They think you oughta know about it, too, so check out Boom Patrol. Out on Latest Flame Records on August 22, 2006.
Media Coverage [click link to preview or
right click & save LINK as or
Macs 'control click' save LINK as]
