I’ve been fairly disappointed with the whole 90s / “grunge rival” / shoegaze thing that has been going on the past couple years. Now it’s not that I dislike bands like Yuck, DIIV, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, etc. I just haven’t spent the time really listening to them, because I haven’t felt like there was really any substance or energy going on with any of these bands. Well, I have finally given in and embraced the whole 90’s revival thing now that Total Slackers second album, Slip Away, has come out!
Finally, some shoegaze-grunge that has some ferocity to it! However, being as I am so far removed from the 1990’s, I don’t feel qualified to properly review Total Slackers’ new album. So in order to properly give an honest opinion on Slip Away, I decided it would be best to transfer this album onto a MiniDisc Player, travel back in time and visit with my 13 year old self. After letting 90’s me listen to Total Slacker’s Slip Away, I sat down to interview the younger version of Jon Robertson to see what his thoughts were.
Me: Howdy Jon, how are things?
13 Year Old Me: (Voice that sounds like Beavis from Beavis and Butt-Head). A huhuhuh, why did you say “Howdy” what are you some sort of Cowboy?
Me: No, sorry. How’s things going?
13: Good I guess. School sucks.
Me: Well get used to it. You have like 18 more years to go.
- That sucks.
Me: Well on to the point. Did you listen to that Total Slacker album I gave you?
13: Yea. It rules!
Me: I thought you might say that. Tell me why you like it?
13: Well the guitars are like super heavy and fast and it’s really catchy. It’s like the perfect soundtrack for when I’m playing Super Punch Out on my Super Nintendo.
Me: That game does rule! Don’t you feel like the guitars on this album sound like the guitars on “Territorial Pissings” from Nirvana’s Nevermind?
13: Yea that’s why I like it. Nirvana rules!
Me: You say “rules” a lot, don’t you?
13: Yea, that word rules!
Me: Do you think Total Slacker sounds like any other bands?
13: They kinda sound like Sonic Youth a little bit. Do you know who Sonic Youth is? They are like one of my favorite bands, most people don’t know about them.
Me: Yea I know Sonic Youth, remember I am you. Also, liking Sonic Youth doesn’t make you that cool just so you know. What Sonic Youth album do think Slip Away sounds most like?
13: Whatever! I guess probably Dirty. The singers voice kind of sounds like Thurston Moore’s.
Me: Do you know who Total Slacker’s singer is?
13: No.
Me: Why don’t you just look it up on the internet?
13: What like on AOL? The only thing I have found on the World Wide Web is Drew Barrymore pictures. She’s so hot!
Me: Oh yea. I forgot that we grew up without Internet, crazy! Well, just so you know when Drew gets older she’s kind of loses her hotness a bit (not really).
13: No way! She’s like my Moongoddess. I want to marry her.
Me: Anyway, back on the subject. What are your favorite songs off of Slip Away?
13: Probably “Ships At Bay”, “Fight the Babysitters Boyfriend”, “Thigh Master”, and “Touch Yourself”.
Me: Of course you picked “Thigh Master” and “Touch Yourself”, you perv.
13: What? Why?! They rule! Haha.
Me: Haha, awesome! Well, I guess that’s about it. Time to head back to 2014.
13: Wait! Is there anything I should know about the future?
Me: No, not really. Except that the Seattle Seahawks are going to win Super Bowl 48. The score is going to be 43 to 8, so go down to Las Vegas or Wendover and bet all the money you have before the game.
13: Sports are stupid. Are you like some jock now?
Me: Yep, totally. Watching sports and caring about other things besides Hot Pockets, Super Nintendo, and music makes me a total jock. Wow, I was annoying when I was younger. Peace out.
13: Whatever!
Well there you have it. There’s no better expert than my 13 year old self on what 90s flavored music sounds like and even though he’s a brat, he actually has pretty good taste in music. So if he approves of Total Slacker’s Slip Away, then it is probably a pretty good indication that it is a solid album. My 2014 self really enjoys Slip Away as well. So there’s two votes of approval.
Total Slacker rules!
Rating: 4.5/5