A couple of weeks ago I was talking with someone about upcoming shows at Jaxx, the local venue I catch most shows at. I made the comment that I wanted to go see the Sex Slaves and he proceeded to tell me just how blown away I would be if I went. I had listened to a few of their songs online and it felt like it could in fact be a good show so I bought my ticket and away I went to see just how much ass these three guys from NYC could kick.
The grand thing about Jaxx is there is no room to set up for more than two bands at any point in time. This is usually the main act and whoever is on the stage at that time. So as the local opening act was clearing the stage the Sex Slaves started setting up their equipment. Matching fire engine red guitar and bass stacks with chrome flames for speaker covers were the first thing to catch my attention. Not in a good way either. Then they brought in the drum kit covered in red velvet. The last time I saw this sort of dramatic flair the band sucked ass so of course this sent my cynical bitch senses into overdrive as I prepared myself for a long night of shitty music.
The opening number was “All Night Long.” Just hearing the title made me cringe a little but once the Sex Slaves kicked it into gear they had my undivided attention. It was this gritty guitar combined with hard rock drums that grab you by the hips and makes you shake your ass. I was really starting to warm up to these guys. It was definitely turning out to be whole lot better than I expected. The harsh gravely vocals of Eric13 has that old school NYC punk sound and it makes the whole Sex Slaves experience complete. By the time they got to chorus I was hooked and who wouldn’t be with lyrical sweetness like “I don’t care – I just want to fuck you all night long”?
The Sex Slaves ethos is to get fucked up, get fucked, and fuck stuff up. Not necessarily in that order either. You get the feeling that these guys crawled out of a gutter with a whiskey bottle in their hand, fighting and fucking everything in sight, and then went home and wrote songs about it. They even have a tribute to one of their greatest sources of inspiration – “Thank God for Jack Daniels.”
Hearing the Sex Slaves play live blows away all of their stuff I heard online. They take their own music and kick its ass to a whole new level of fuck yea. It is has a raw dirty rock quality that adds so much more to the Sex Slaves experience. Eric13, Del, and J are prime examples of what rock and roll should be about, drinking, fucking, fighting and ultimately just having fun. The best part is that the Sex Slaves deliver it all with such in your face attitude that you devour it and are left begging for more.
The Sex Slaves are currently touring with The Genitorturers on the Blackheart Revolution tour in support of their latest release, Wasted Angel on Loch Ness Records. Once they finish touring the US throughout the winter the Sex Slaves will be heading back to Europe for another round of debauchery and fun. No dates have been released yet but will be posted when they are. Until then you can catch up with Sex Slaves on Twitter at @sexslaves.
For more live rock & metal reviews such as this please visit our live shows section, and return to Rocksins on a regular basis.
