The Slinky guitarist Jon Dennis gurns dramatically, lays into his guitar as if flogging a particularly troublesome Romo and suddenly "Enslaved" is resurrected as a turbo-fuelled puurrnk spittle monster with tasty harmonies that really gets to the grist of his far-reaching frustrations. Phew, rock'n'growl... Contradiction is the oil to Slinky's coils.You see, one minute they're playing spiteful bridesmaids at some backstreet Motown shotgun-wedding ("Girl love"), the next Jon's falsetto-crooning his way through the "Abbey Road" downer-chugging of "Shoot me down" like a manic depressive Jimmy Somerville. One minute they're possessed by the irrepressible optimism of Bis, the next they're as gloomy as Placebo for being mistaken for girls, again. Throughout,however, they're the most eclectic, exciting and darned slippery of the current New Lo-fi breed.
And the cocky buggers damn well know it. "Put the shining crown on my head" Jon sings amid the cascading "WOOOAAHH!!"s of the Costello-gets-right-royally-pissed-with-the-Stones "Queen for a day" with nary a hint of irony and you find yourself agreeing that, Noel Gallagher lyrical influences aside, it's not as stupid a request as it sounds.
Coiled for success.
Mark Beaumont, New Musical Express, 27 January 1996.
Last updated: March 21st 1997 by Mark Hibbett