A humorous, playful veneer encompasses the music of Sly & The Family Drone (“The ampersand is obligatory”). A bit of wordplay and Sabbath worship here, a sneering track title there; you get the sense that the joke is on you when Sly’s involved.
But, to paraphrase Rakim (and Lil B circa White Flame), “Sly ain’t no joke.” When it comes to their recorded output and live performances, The Family Drone chiefly deal in no-bollocks, unpretentious noise workouts. Swirling vortexes of sound emanate from their decidedly minimal set-up of a drum kit, tape machines and effects pedals – according to their bio, “There is no place for guitars within this band.” Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Cruel Nature Recordings recently popped off a recording of the group playing in Brighton, under the name A Fiesta Of Skin And Tears. This C45 nicely encapsulates what Sly & The Fam are all about: hypnotic auditory demolition, both pummelling and liberating all at once. Their egalitarian ideology also comes to the fore, as the crowd grows louder and more involved with the set. Maddening, yes, but thrilling and captivating to that end.
Cruel Nature themselves are SOLD OUT of cassettes, so the prospective tape-grippers among us are out of luck (unless they pop up elsewhere, no doubt at a marked-up price). Still, you can catch a stream down below, and peruse Sly & The Family Drone’s other physical editions right here.
• Sly & The Family Drone: https://www.facebook.com/slythefamilydrone
• Cruel Nature: https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com
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