London alternative movers and shakers Slender Pins release a disco punk romp fit for the dance floors of Hell. ‘Get Your Hooks In Me’ is the lead track from their upcoming EP Hell is Nervous, set to be released later this year.
This “gothic disco delicacy” (anon) brings together the bands love of pop songsmiths such as ABBA with their trademark riff-powered rough and ready indie punk, with a middle section inspired by gospel praise break thrown in for good measure. Alex (guitarist) shares the following on the new single:
“The riff came fully formed on a hazy May night, while Ash and I were traipsing around Barons Court in a state of arrested decay. It existed for years in the form of what you can now hear as the intro – a beached creature, neither truly alive nor truly dead! – until I realised that the martial stomp had to accelerate into uptempo disco. And from there flowed the rest of the music.”
“Self producing the track completely changed our process. When you’re not confined to limited time in the studio, you can treat producing as another part of writing and arranging, rather than just trying to capture what you play live.”
‘Get Your Hooks In Me’ sees Slender Pins bring their funky twitchy dance vibes to a track which takes a couple of surprising, exuberant twists and turns. The vocal of lead singer Ash is as animated as ever and that funky guitar riff is to die for. The 4-piece also release their first music video, which was filmed at the legendary Dublin Castle in Camden. Ed (drummer) expands:
“We love the Dublin Castle and the venue’s long time promoter, Tony Gleed of Bugbear Bookings, tolerates our requests to keep returning there every six months to play. For a can of Shandy Bass and pickled egg, Tony let us take over the Dublin Castle for an afternoon to shoot what has turned out to be a modern masterpiece within the music video genre.’
Alex adds:
“Sartre remarks somewhere that “hell is other people”. He forgot to say: “hell is other people on their smartphones”. Taking a cue from the apocalyptic lyrics, the video brings this to life, as we, the band, perform to an inattentive audience rendered anhedonic and tranquillised by their devices. Smartphones and social media have destroyed people’s ability to engage with the world around them – what might the devil be getting up to while we’re not paying attention?”