- It was back in 2017 when Slotface’s steady simmer boiled over in emphatic fashion and onto my radar, with their standout debut full length Try Not To Freak Out. This release even got them name dropped in the Netflix series Sex Education. The Norwegian crew deliver bombastic pop-rock with an edge sharpened on the wet stone of a clear social conscious and a snarl that raised a small-scale, punk rebellion. A new decade brings a new Slotface record in the form of their sophomore outing Sorry For The Late Reply, a phrase that everyone is guilty of uttering in both earnest or just an effort to save face. Momentum is picked up where it was left off three years prior and aptly circumvents the eponymous slump. This time around, an overarching unrest is braced for and combatted by an album that really illustrates an expansion in their songwriting and is stocked with an armory of renewed vigor.
Out of all the songs here, there would not have been a more pertinent way to green light Sorry For The Late Reply than S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Straining vocals mock a career perfectionist’s mantra in full before anything else is heard. That 'anything else' slaps into effect as a rhythmic lockstep groove, t a solid base for a flailing guitar ring that blares forth. The tension built during the bridge is paid off with simple effectiveness during the chorus. Post release electronic spattering flavours the track with some glitchy bliss. The “keep it simple, stupid” ethos follows with Telepathetic. Its main melody is reprised from the guitar intro to the chorus, and begets the launch point for the solo. A tried and true formula that blends the world of pop and punk, carries the song’s title as a refrain while thumbing the nose at the idea of option paralysis. Group shouted vocals add in the veritable spice of youth and become more conventional backing vocals during Stuff. Utilizing one element in two vastly different ways is a doubling down on Slotface’s confidence in their songwriting, a confidence that is easily understandable. The latter song's paints reminisce a break up with dissociation from their meaning and removing the emotional connection by viewing them as a laundry list. Aforementioned backing vocals give pop grandeur to the song and another strong showing from the rhythm section will cause even the most curmudgeonly cobber to tap along. A warping pad fills in the malleable space left by the drums and bass, as more guitar layers than a tiramisu flit with choreographed style. Both New Year, New Me, and the reprisal of Crying In Amsterdam are gentle counterpoints to another otherwise endless bounding energy, even as it harbours their own individual fragility. The former swaying, lethargic mood resigns itself to the futility and pressure of crafting those resolutions which are destined to fail. Reworked to a bare piano / vocal pair, Crying In Amsterdam gives a different, yet equally potent version of what the full band brought out earlier in the record.
For all its intensity, excellence and the sense of growth as a band, there isn’t actually anything groundbreaking on Sorry For The Late Reply, but there doesn’t need to be. This is a great pop record, taking the standards of the sound and making inescapable magic with them.
- Matt Lynch.