July 15, 2009

Album review: Gareth Sager - 'Slack Slack Music'

Some slack you really should be picking up...

8 / 10 Gareth Sager was guitarist in legendary post-punkers The Pop Group and his debut solo album follows their wobbly avant-reggae lines. Instead of sticking to minimalism, though, it piles on funk, soul, glam, and howls of invocation like a demonic game of Buckaroo. ‘Bad Bad Loser’ is like The Fall joining the dancefloor to intimidate the dancers with full throttle aggro-funk. ‘So Fired Up’ is voodoo rockabilly straight from a David Lynch nightclub, ‘Dollar Hungry’ like John Spencer doing Prince and ‘Hot Hits Vol 27’ is a genius Tom Waits/Elvis hybrid. Titles such as ‘Not Since The Accident’ and ‘Draining Swan Lake’ indicate the level of wit on display here and the album feels fun in a way you wouldn’t expect from the old guard. Sager’s the disco Captain Beefheart. Mega.

Martin Robinson

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