Slotface - Film Buff

There’s something wholly satisfying to the opening of Sløtface’s third full-length - and second with founding member Haley Shea as the focus. The rollicking ‘I Used To Be A Real Piece Of Shit’, as fully front-facing as its title suggests, immediately evokes the early excitement that surrounded the Norwegian band as they emerged in the middle of the 2010s. To say this energy sustains itself through the record’s eleven tracks would be somewhat of an exaggeration – the overarching concept of taking tropes from film and TV leads ‘Charlie Calls’ and ‘Tired Old Dog’ falling somewhat flat, as if there’s a direct reference missing somehow. ‘I Confess, I Guess’ too is a little too mid-paced to leave anything to hold on to. But where the songs work with and without context, it’s a joy, in particular the staccato, Biffy-echoing guitars of ‘Ladies Of The Fight’, the gigantically pop punk ‘The Great Escape’ that’s an ideal foil for Haley’s vocal, and the delicious literal roar that is the cherry on top for chaotic closer ‘Quiet On Set’.