SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SLOTHRUST – THE PACT

Slothrust
The Pact
Dangerbird Records

The Pact by Slothrust is one of those albums where the space for which one should experience the sound is already drawn. The imagery is sculpted by the voice of Leah Wellbaum. Can’t you just picture the shape of “Peach”? A voyeuristic sight, looking through a hole in the wall, an out of body experience. Then getting dragged back down to Earth in the whiplash of a car accident with “Planetarium”. This album toys with the listener; emotions running high as the shift in pace slows and speeds and slows and speeds. The pattern seems to arrange itself in twos. The immediate feeling that this is not just one album, it’s their greatest hits. The Pact is their whole setlist, it’s everything you want to hear at their show. Not to mention, the venues associated with this tour are tailor made for this album; The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts (my favourite venue) is the perfect homecoming for this sound. It’s the hair standing up on the back of your neck, the goosebumps for anxiety and anticipation. I hear “Lady Lamb The Beekeeper”, I hear “Manchester Orchestra”, I hear early Bright Eyes. Slothrust explores the depths of hard-alt rock with hints of punk, pop and folk. I touched on patterns earlier, I found it difficult to arrange myself in the arc of this story. The structure was too separate, it was segmented. The Pact fumbled over words, but ultimately said something elegant and beautiful.

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