Slut - Alienation (2013)

They were one of the few to establish a respectable form of indie-rock from Germany, they reinterpreted KURT WEILL and his music for BERTOLT BRECHT’s poetry and they collaborated with writer JULI ZEH on her social dystopia Corpus Delicti. The way of German indie-institution SLUT has been one of the more unpredictable ones over the nearly twenty years of their existence. The band around singer Christian Neuburger always felt the need for a little renewal here and there, a circumstance, that SLUT‘s last album Still No.1 reflected in a much more pathetic approach and songs that were reaching far beyond the limits of an indie-scene that damned itself to everlasting repetition. So, with a new SLUT-record coming out, there’s always a big questionmark of where they’re heading next. Long story short: this new one is called Alienation and it’s appropriately named.

With a handful of different producers contributing to Alienation in different studios all over Germany, one could get the impression that SLUT were consciously trying to challenge the usual paths of their creative process. A step, that might make sense theoretically, but practically, contents the danger of derogating the whole. The first single Next Big Thing did not reveal any of that dangerous approach though, but it remains to be one of the few more classical and straightforward SLUT-moments – undeniable catchy, driving, reflective indie-rock at its best: “Lookalikes on the corners, they look alike, all the same.” Quite a bold statement, but bloody honest and direct. But from there on, SLUT drive us and themselves out of the comfortzone, into the jungle. We hear sitars on Silk Road Blues, some wave- and postpunk-reminiscences in Never Say Nothing, even a few attempts to sound like Kid A–RADIOHEAD or THE NOTWIST – it’s difficult to not lose track while every single song is struggling to sound different. It could have been an exciting experiment but it simply lacks the class and consequence – don’t get me wrong, this is still SLUT, but a slightly overachieving and confused version of it.

As SLUT are aiming for depth – which is indeed something they usually achieved better than many others – it is essential to represent the own ambition in somekind of a coherent artistical expression. Instead, among all the different shades of sound, we get the title-track as an example for the basic beauty of this band. With simple but effective melodies, a gentle arc of suspense and the melancholic reflections from Neuburger about home and “the young ones getting out of here while “the rest stays where they are”. Not without instantly returning to a some sort of contempt in stating: “most of them turn petty, burgeois.” These are the moments of obvious strength.

All in all it is intelligible why SLUT chose the form they chose, that they maybe wanted Alienation to be musically unsteady and restless; to assure themselves of being still relevant after two decades of music. Unfortunately, a polyphonic record like this reduces the effect of the wise things they still have to say. Somehow, it felt much better to miss them, than to actually hear them again.