Slimy Girls’ Riotous Debut E.P. Sets the Tone for Plymouth Punk
Plymouth’s punk scene has a new calling card. Slimy Girls’ debut Slime E.P. is raw, furious and full of the energy that’s made their live shows unmissable this year. Community reporter Joshua Edwards takes us through the record track by track, with the band set to play Plymouth Punx Picnic this Friday at Leadworks. Slime is available to stream now on all major platforms.
Plymouth’s own Slimy Girls released their debut E.P, Slime, on the 16th of August, further adding to their impressively busy and productive debut year. April of this year they played their first gig and since then they’ve been sprinting forwards; dozens of gigs including a spectacular opening to this year’s We Are Here festival (read my review here: www.plymouthculture.co.uk/whats-on/news/we-are-here) and a headlining set at Philfest. My band, El Generico, were lucky enough to share the bill with them there, but I could scarcely see their set so dense was the gathered crowd at the Nowhere Inn. It was a thrill to be on the same line-up as them and I hope we’ll play together again soon.
The Slimy Girls sound has been well established and I am familiar with the six songs presented here, but that’s a double-edged sword; I am at once excited to hear the songs committed to tape and worried that a studio recording will not be able to capture what makes their shows so enjoyable. Then I found out that they had recorded with local legend, Andrew “Doc” Price at the PMC, which put that worry to rest. Doc has been responsible for so many great Plymouth recordings, including seeyellow’s Haven’t We Been Here Before (which was my album of last year) as well as the duo of releases from my favourite band, Lack of Discipline, many moons ago. What unites those recordings is how perfectly they have replicated the bands as they sound live, and I’m happy to report the Slimy Girls have fared just as well. Sidenote: I hear Doc’s rates are very reasonable too so any bands looking to record soon should definitely look him up.
The record is laid out like their live setlists, with instrumental Teeth kicking off proceedings. It sets a tone for the recording, full of ominous feeling and dirty guitar. I’m a sucker for an instrumental opening, so it’s a good start.
Ur Mum has been a stand out song for the band and it’s certainly been a highlight for me every time I’ve seen them. The recording does not disappoint and it’s a real treat to hear the lyrics Leah is spitting out with the venom and righteous antagonism she does. She says:
Your mum
Is a feminist
She reads the Guardian
She supports #metoo but does she know that it’s me too?
She taught you how to appreciate Rothko
But she didn’t teach you the meaning of the word no
I find the words very funny and quite unsettling. It’s something special. The song itself calls to mind the bratty growl of late 80s/early 90s Riot Grrl bands and the youthful mischief of the Slits. Ur Mum has single written all over it (her?).
Title track, Slime, pairs a more bluesy verse vocal with an almost heavy metal chorus, the band showing off their self-proclaimed genre fluid musical style.
This gives way to the song, that for me, is the standout of the whole record, The Reckoning. A slithering viper of a verse paired with barely contained anger in the choruses. The band display a level of control and fluidity throughout, a heavy dose of flannel clad Seattle pervading. It’s here also that the vocals are given their best showing, soulful and weary and vulnerable, yet not taking anymore of your sh!t.
Hysterical and Hungover (growler) are a one-two punch that complete the album with a burst of frustrated rage that have me feeling apologetic for my gender. Hysterical veers into that kind of claustrophobic horror found on early Korn records, Elliot’s stabbing guitar refrain throughout akin to the sounds that used to scare parents as it rang from the bedrooms of their black clad offspring. Hungover (growler) is disorientating and scary; you’d skip it if you heard it on your headphones walking home alone late at night.
It’s worth highlighting the rhythm section here too. As is so often the case, the guitar and vocals are what steal the show because that’s just how rock and roll bands tend to work, but bassist Naomi is note perfect and hook heavy and drummer Ashe is an absolute beast. They anchor the whole of Slime superbly. There appears to be no weak link in the band at all.
It all adds up to a helluva debut record, all told. Like all the best albums, all the songs stand strong alone but together form a cohesive piece of art. The Slimy Girls are a riot starting punk band in one moment, jump into Mad Season-esque introspection the next, visit some Beth Gibbons explored territories for a time, and have you looking over your shoulder too. That said, they always sound like their singing from the same hymn sheet, fully establishing themselves as one to watch going forward. I’m very excited to hear what’s next for them.
You can see Slimy Girls this weekend as part of Plymouth Punx Picnic, which runs from Thursday the 4th of September through to Sunday the 7th across various venues in the city. Slimy Girls are part of Friday’s Leadworks based line-up.
The Slime E.P is available now through whichever streaming platform you prefer.
