With a name like Slut, it's a wonder these guys still haven't made it in America. Were I to have a band named "Fotze," somehow I doubt I'd be granted much marketing in Germany. Apparently they're not really interested in spreading their popularity to the States or England; so why do they sing in English? Because it's cool. The German kids usually can't stand listening to singers who sing in languages other than English. Why? Nur so. None of this really matters. Just let it be known.
The first time I heard Slut was on a music channel. I saw the video for "It Was Easier," which is, so you know, a fun track. The band immediately caught my attention because their music was like an oasis amidst all of the dance and rap that happened to be broadcasted that evening. At first I had the hardest time finding information on the group. Search engines tended to think blowjobs, cumshots, and rimjobs were more important. Another possible reason that they're not widely known? I'll save you the trouble in case you're interested:
Official Slut Homepage
Virgin Records Germany Slut Website
The interesting thing about Slut is their ability to make each track on the album sound like it was written by a different group. Seriously, the songs sound nothing alike. This is somewhat of an admirable trait. What makes the CD even more praiseworthy is that some of their songs segue into one another. Still the album, with all it's different kinds of songs, flows surprisingly well. Thumbs up in that department.
In the instrumentation you won't find any surprises. They use horns. They use strings. They use piano. They use organ. All of these are most likely not organic, just a push of some buttons on their keyboards. They've also got their machines making some other interesting noises, and playing the role of the now familiar space instruments. You know what I mean: all the artists running out of ideas, therefore relying on Casio, Yamaha or Roland to be creative for them. They also use acoustic guitar strumming or soft electric guitar picking, both of which usually end up becoming drowned out by revered feedback, light distorted guitars, and/or extraterrestrial bleeps. They've got a bass, and they've got drums. From time to time the drums are synthesized, which can add a nice variety to an album.
There are a few bothersome spots on Lookbook. They do that "thing" that plenty of bands seem to like to do lately. The "thing" to which I am referring is when they put the same song multiple times on an album with a different number behind it. They're not really remixes. They don't even have that much difference between them. They should be b-sides... if anything at all. Mind that I'm not talking about what cLOUDDEAD did. That was completely different. Another annoyance: one of my favorite songs starts out with applause, which is always a terrible thing to put on an album. You can disagree if you want, but it cost Slut a hefty four whole points on their Tiny Mix Tapes official score. Small things like these simply make a group come off as amateur. It's disappointing, and I would like to believe is below them.
If you're looking for a list artists to whom I can compare Slut, I'm not really sure what to give you. They have a different sound. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're particularly unique, but all the same, it's hard to compare them to others. One bit reminded me of a song called "Harvey" by Briskeby. The beginning of another song sounded like "Breathe," Pink Floyd. "Early Morning," Placebo. "Army of Me," Björk. "Komm schon Baby," Deichkind. "War," Discontinuity. Sean Lennon or The Beatles. Grandaddy. Aha. Broadcast. Travis. Quite a diverse list of bands to sound like, I know.
In the structures, dynamics, and chord progressions I haven't much to rave about. The band does a decent job creating crescendo buildups, something which we all know Weezer used to be quite capable of (there's hope yet). Though there's nothing particularly special in that either. The singer has a nice voice, and the melodies are generally sweet. The instruments don't do anything groundbreaking, but the songs stay interesting enough to listen to. There's something sometimes sort of 80s about the whole thing. The album should keep your attention.
On the whole, Lookbook is more of a laid back record. As far as I can tell, the singer's releasing sorrow, worry, happiness, maybe some anger and whatever other kind of bullshit artists are accustomed to writing about. It's poppy, but it can have depth. It's rock-ish, but it can be simple. Some emo? Some techno? Some classic rock? Some Alec Johnson? The record isn't easily categorized, and that's not really a bad thing. Being that it's fairly harder to obtain, it's most likely not worth tracking down, ordering, or even buying. I'd recommend first trying the internet, because there's nothing better than a free Slut. (Last sentence compliments of Robot).