Slow Club - Complete Surrender

Slow Club
Complete Surrender
14 July 2014
Wichita

3.5 stars out of 5

 

Sheffield duo Slow Club return with their third LP, produced by fellow South Yorkshire resident and Pulp alumnus Richard Hawley. It pushes further the Northern Soul hints and clues of their previous record, 2011’s Paradise, resulting in what can only be categorized as “indie soul,” or some other such frustrating and annoying but also rather appropriate genre appellation.

Drummer/singer Rebecca Taylor takes the early lead on the album’s more immediately enjoyable blasts of Phil Spectre-inspired bombast, such as “Suffering You, Suffering Me” and “The Queen’s Nose.” The soaring ballad “Not Mine to Love” and the proto-disco “Complete Surrender” further establish Taylor’s new title as the torch-wielding diva for a new generation. Keyboardist/guitarist/singer Charles Watson seems content to let his band mate take most of the spotlight, saving for himself quiet acoustic moments like “Paraguay and Panama.” Permeating everything here is a sense of deep heartbreak and loss. The shiny Motown veneer only intensifies the sorrow.

It’s fairly safe to say that Slow Club have come completely out of their shell. Complete Surrender renders almost unrecognizable the face of the shy folkies that made Yeah So back in 2009. This is not only a very confident record, it’s a record that is buying drinks for everyone at the pub because it wants—no, demands—dozens of new friends. You’d be well advised to accept the round of tequila shots Taylor and Watson are sending to your table, because this is one party where everybody cries at the end.

reviewed by Richard Krueger