‘Try Not To Freak Out’ would be a great soundtrack to a teen movie, if it wasn’t already accompanying the lives of a group of young Norwegians in a punk band called Sløtface.
Throughout their debut, they capture the ecstatic thrills and growing anxieties of youth. But what sets Sløtface apart from bands covering similar themes is that they never eulogise this period of their lives for its apparent simplicity.
The quartet, fronted by expressive vocalist Haley Shea, met as teens and, like a kid’s bedroom wall, their music is littered with a diverse range of pop culture references, from The Ring, Pretty in Pink and Grease to Ryan Adams, Beyoncé, Drake and Queen.
Last year they released a track name-checking the cult ‘90s flick Empire Records and their debut album is full of the catchy, riotous guitar rock that marked the decade.
On the surface, songs like Slumber and Background Adventures explore the innocence of childhood. Shea sings of sleepovers, watching horror films and “falling asleep while we’re still talking” on the former. Everything is not as idyllic as it seems, though, as she acknowledges the fragility of childhood as it’s happening. “Even as a child I know / That I’ll never have friends like these again,” she explains.
Pitted, meanwhile, perfectly captures the house parties of your early 20s: “In the end you'll find me / Hanging out that second-story window / At that end-of-the-world party / I was drinking gold at / I had a toga on / It was embarrassing.” There’s that great mixture of fun and shame, but mostly the sense that everyone is desperately trying to have a good time. “I can fake it to Bohemian Rhapsody,” Shea sings. Yet again the perceived highs of our youth are revealed for what they really are.
Galaxies finds Sløtface frustrated with what they see as the apathy of their peers. “All we ever seem to talk about is puking our guts out” and “terrible rap”, they complain. The band have a history of political engagement, with the video for the title track of their ‘Sponge State’ EP seeing them support youth activists campaigning against the dumping of chemical waste into a fjord.
Shea also wants to sing rock songs from a female perspective. Noting that women have always been able to relate to male-fronted indie bands, she doesn’t see why guys wouldn’t connect to her songs as well. On Magazine she sings: “Patti Smith would never put up with this shit.” It’s an empowering statement that feels like it could be applied to almost any situation, even if in this case it’s a rallying cry against the representation of women in print.
Sløtface have a knack for catchy melodies that could have easily seen them aim more for the mainstream with their debut. But the message is clearly important to them. Shea’s vocals are at the forefront, demanding we listen to what she has to say. And what she has to say represents a very nuanced, aware discussion of what it is to be young in 2017.
Slotface Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu September 28 2017 - BOURNEMOUTH Sixty Million Postcards
Fri September 29 2017 - BIRMINGHAM Actress And Bishop
Sat September 30 2017 - LEEDS Brudenell Games Room
Sun October 01 2017 - MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen
Tue October 03 2017 - YORK City Screen Basement
Wed October 04 2017 - HULL Adelphi
Thu October 05 2017 - DERBY Venue
Fri October 06 2017 - SHEFFIELD Picture House Social
Sat October 07 2017 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Think Tank?
Mon October 09 2017 - EDINBURGH Sneaky Petes
Tue October 10 2017 - GLASGOW Broadcast
Thu October 12 2017 - LIVERPOOL Magnet
Fri October 13 2017 - STOCKTON Ku Bar
Mon October 16 2017 - NOTTINGHAM Bodega Social Club
Tue October 17 2017 - LEICESTER Cookie
Wed October 18 2017 - SOUTHAMPTON Joiners
Thu October 19 2017 - PLYMOUTH Underground
Fri October 20 2017 - BRISTOL Louisiana
Sat October 21 2017 - READING Purple Turtle
Tue October 24 2017 - BRIGHTON Hope & Ruin
Wed October 25 2017 - LONDON Camden Assembly
Thu October 26 2017 - OXFORD Cellar
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