Mixing Royal Blood’s minimalist blues-punk dynamics with Sleaford Mods’ acerbic, state-of-the-nation lyrics, Tunbridge Wells guitar/drums duo Slaves have been widely tipped to be one of 2015’s breakthrough acts. Their debut just about lives up to the hype. Laurie Vincent’s heavy but simple guitar riffs underpin the 13 songs here, and there’s plenty of vibrant imagery to enjoy (Sockets concerns an encounter with a woman so attractive “you could hear your eyes rolling round in their sockets”). There’s the odd misstep, – Hey’s attempt at menace is overegged and the violence just sounds cartoonish – but the abundance of winning songs elsewhere makes such minor flaws forgivable.
