You Slut! - Medium Bastard

With a name like You Slut! and an album title like Medium Bastard, you could be forgiven for wondering what you are getting yourself in for when you press play on your audio device of choice. If you were expecting a Taylor Swift-esque inoffensive love ditty, you are probably going to be in for a shock.

When we first caught You Slut! at one of their Aberdeen gigs, we quickly fell in love with their wall of math-rock noise: taking an enthusiastic cue from the likes of Mogwai, then ditching all the quiet bits in search of big riffs full of intricate guitar parts, it’s a mission which their previous album Critical Meat showed off in style. When the word came though of a new album, I was obviously rather excited and warmed up the hi-fi for another assault of chaotically brilliant noise.

I am glad to say that You Slut!’s Medium Bastard stands up to my expectations, presenting another slab of intricately-built riff-laden noise. Opener Pitch and Putt with You Slut! starts off at full speed, before a wall of feedback and riffs quickly leads into the song proper.  The track gallops along and skips manically between sections; traditionally you can split a song into components like the verse, chorus and bridge, but such a short song with this many riffs crammed in just leaves your head whirling. It certainly leaves you ready for the slightly more laid-back sound of Fifzteen, a slower and more intricate sound built out of layered guitars, which shows that You Slut! can do more than just make a racket.

The rest of the album manages to bounce back and forth between these styles – regularly within a single track – in a way that manages to keep a simple sound fresh and interesting, providing interest to both those that want to listen to loud rock music and those who like the more fiddly bits. The track Shellsock, for example, manages to fit pretty much every different style on the album into its 2:20 running time, featuring a selection of lovely layered sounds and blasts of pure riffing. Meanwhile, Hiya Higher Hire somehow manages to embody what I can only describe as a happy tone in amongst the chaos.

Overall, Medium Bastard certainly holds its head high against Critical Meat and the live show. If you like a bit of a noisy bent on your math rock, I can only point you in the direction of You Slut!




Medium Bastard is out on the 16th of April.

DL