Album Review: The Slurs – Shatter Sessions

The Slurs were formed back in 2015 by four veterans of the Milwaukee music scene, there aim was to create an outfit that delivers straight up loud and sleazy rock ‘n roll. With their debut album, Shatter Sessions, The Slurs are not pulling any punches, this is a raw and in your face soundtrack that should satisfy anyone who likes their music with a fuck you attitude, the raw vocals are perfectly matched to a hedonistic rock ‘n roll soundtrack where you can almost sense the blood, sweat, bourbon and cigarettes that have gone into the creation of an album like The Slurs debut full length.

Mercy kicks The Shatter Sessions into life with a hit of sleazy punk ‘n roll that acts a statement of intent, this is followed by Do What You Want that leans deeper into the roots of punk but retains the hedonistic rock ‘n fucking roll attitude of the opening track. The Shatter Sessions continues to deliver across all ten tracks veering between the influences but all the time staying true to their original goal. There’s a cover version of The Soft Boys classic I Wanna Destroy You thrown into the mix, The Slurs version somehow manages to simultaneously be a million miles away from the psychedelic overtones of the original and yet remains immediately familiar, which I think is a perfect metaphor for the Shatter Sessions.

The Slurs deliver a soundtrack that encompasses everyone from the proto-punk of The Stooges, The MC5 and The Heartbreakers to the punk & roll of the likes of Electric Frankenstein, The Candysnatchers and Murder City Devils through to straight up rockers such as The Wildhearts, Motorhead and Michael Monroe. The Slurs are one of the rare bands that could play to either hard rock or punk crowds and you’d find that both would happily claim the band as one of their own. The Slurs are not bringing anything new to the party, hard edged punk influenced rock ‘n roll has been around almost as long as punk itself, but when it’s done right there really is nothing better, and The Slurs do it right.

Shatter Sessions can be pre-ordered on CD and digital formats via Bandcamp here