Slumber Party - Musik

Genre rock Publisher Kill Rock Stars External Links Official Slumber Party Website Official Kill Rock Stars Website

Ah Detroit... The very name conjures up images of the MC5, Iggy Pop, big wheels, even bigger hair, and rioting. Let's introduce Slumber Party then, four albums in and their mojo is getting stronger. No longer riding in the exhaust fumes of Jack and Meg White, Slumber Party now spearhead the Detroit renaissance. Influenced by The Velvet Underground, Joy Division, David Bowie, Sonic Youth, The Doors even, but also tuned into the contemporary electronica scene like Ladytron, Freezepop and Adult. Encouraged by feminist riot girl rockers like Sleater-Kinney, The Gossip, Erase Errata and also avant/garage players like the above mentioned White Stripes, Slumber Party are surfing current alternative waves to the max. They add more obtuse influences like Kate Bush, The Raincoats, The Slits, Kleenex and Bananarama to the mix and combine them all with the songwriting skills of someone like Neil Young. This should give you some idea of where Slumber Party are coming from, but this is no mere party, it is an orgy of sound and ambience.

"10-9-8-7-6-5-4" starts off the sleepover and you are eyes and ears wide awake. The track reminds you of all the good stuff; the breathlessness of Blondie, the decadent sheen of garage bands like She and the pop spark of The Ramones. It also invokes the angel/devil choruses of all the best girl groups. Did I mention that this band is from Motown? Slumber Party have style as well as substance. Rock music needs an injection of sex, flair and art, so no more goatees and grubby muddy shoes please! It neither tempts nor beguiles! The space cadet whiz of "Boys/Girls" is post-modernist shopping mall that shouts "2006" for those that weren't around in 1979!

But this is now, and like The Strokes and Kaiser Chiefs, Slumber Party are more than just a clever amalgamation of their influences. The electric drill/fuzz that introduces "Madeupmind" is just one example of how Slumber Party uses sound, that most vital ingredient when it comes to composing music. "Becuz" bears no resemblance to the Sonic Youth song of the same name, but the chord progression sounds similar to "There She Goes Again" by The Velvet Underground.

Slumber Party mix electronics and psychedelia in an entirely new way. Like years ago when Elastica fused certain elements of Wire and Stranglers songs to their own design, the results are stunning. "Hey Hey China" with its Eastern feel, purrs like a Siamese feline. "Late Nite," a husky computerised rocker that is an update on The Cars is one of at least five potential hit singles. All the tracks are special and all come packaged with care, thought and mystique, a word used too rarely nowadays when describing art.

"Electric Cave" is the final track and one you will return to again and again, a haunting piano ballad, that manages to recall glam-era Elton John, underscored with Slumber Party's trademark drone rock sound. Musik is for lovers of psychedelia, new wave, electronica, post-punk; and also post-rock because of its attention to sculpture, landscape and detail. The Brian Eno-style production from Dion Fischer and Warn Defever is immaculate. Containing great music and intelligent, sometimes hazy, surrealistic wordplay, this album will survive scrutiny and trends in years to come. As the girls themselves, Aliccia, Alia, Raquel and Naomi, declare on the opening track "all is fair in love and war, simple pleasures I adore..." Play on!