This is Kent duo, Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent's second LP since they started bringing punk back to the forefront in 2012 and it is an absolute banger. It was going to be quite something to live up to 2013's Sugar Coated Bitter Truth, but why would anyone have doubted them when singles such as Feed The Mantaray and Cheer Up London have been so successful?
The aforementioned feature on the album alongside The Hunter and Hey, both now notorious Slaves singles. But what's most exciting about this album is the likes of the urgent electricity that runs through Sockets, the grimey undercurrent of Live Like An Animal and the war-cry that is closer Sugar Coated Bitter Truth. All already staple live tracks, Slaves have managed to transfer the visceral energy they perform with and weave it not only through these tracks, but through the whole album also. The album sees Slaves dabble with musical dimensions we didn't know existed in their repertoire such as the acoustic Are You Satisfied?, the all-too-relevant Wow!!! 7AM and the funky synths of Ninety Nine. Whilst we could go on with lot's of adjectives about how wonderful the fusion of punky, bluesy, garagey riffs and fills is, there's also a message to consider here. It's quite simply that of the title; are any of us really satisfied? Slaves have peppered this idea throughout every song culminating in shouts of "You can't run (do you ever feel like you're being cheated?)"
Are You Satisfied? is clever and witty and it's bursting at the seams with infectious throbbing fun.
"Don't trust the flies, they are government spies." - Sugar Coated Bitter Truth
10/10
Listen to: Sockets, Are You Satisifed?
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