Executive Slacks - Repressed: The Best Of Executive Slacks FLAC

What's in a name? To me the name EXECUTIVE SLACKS conjures up images of those Art School types who glibly rode along in the wake of the Punk revolution back in the late 70s / early 80s. Prejudiced? No, not really - a lot of that music was great, but this group's name set me against them from the offset, and so this record has been imprisoned in The Pile ever since. And to find them on a Goth compilation only added to my pre-judgement of what they'd be like - a little like one of those poor Salem lasses who happens to have a black cat named Satan's Sex Tool.
Which is a shame as, having grown use to this record over the last week, I find it a very enjoyable listening experience. And yes, it has connections with Goth, but through the same source as ALIEN SEX FIEND - the lighter, less black capes and false blood corner of Eighties / Nineties music which owed as much to New Wave as to Bat Cave. And ALIEN SEX FIEND are about the most fitting comparison I could make - the combination of naturally muscular post-Punk Rock and electronic tinkering is around equal measure in both groups. But while EXECUTIVE SLACKS take themselves no more seriously, they come across as far less self-ridiculing and a lot more valid.

Other groups who spring to mind include a less CLASH-like PANKOW and a much more matured and well-rounded MADAME BOVARY, with moments reminiscent of LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND and a more streamlined BLURT, and, as with so many groups of this period, the spectre of early MAGAZINE lurks well in the background.

But the biggest giveaway is the cover version (which in light of recent events might have gained itself a degree of mild Industrial Culture shock status) of GARY GLITTER's "Rock 'n' Roll", which here blows the original away. Echoes of Glam bounced out of Indie lover's speakers for a couple of decades after the last glitter and ridiculously high heels had hit the city dump. And ES totally fail to bang the last nail in that gaudy coffin. As with many of those who kept the memory alive - BAUHAUS, SIOUXSIE, etc. - they did it with a style, grace and gravity those original groups lacked.

The lyrics might be sufficiently dumbed down to appeal to a wide variety of tastes, but the music is well worth seeking out. It'll make you groove - it'll make you happy - what more do you need?

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.