Slobs Talk New EP, Darker future

BY Josiah HughesPublished Mar 25, 2011

Slobs may have a lazily endearing moniker, but the Montreal hardcore quartet are anything but idle. Since forming in early 2009, they turned heads with their snarling demo cassette, which was later reissued as a seven-inch by Machette Records and was named Exclaim!'s seventh best EP of 2010. Now, the group are as busy as ever with Look Busy, Do Nothing, a brand new seven-inch EP from Cowabunga Records.


 While their blistering hardcore punk sound remains entirely intact, guitarist Yannick Sarrazin, a Montreal scene vet and former member of No Joy, explains that they've expanded the sound a little.

"The demo for sure was a little snottier than what what we do now," he explains to Exclaim! "We're slowly headed towards a 'darker' sound, as I like to call it. The songs we've been writing lately all have that depressing feel you can hear on Personality Crisis, Jerry's Kids or the Fix records. Always keeping in mind the primitive rage of early Poison Idea or Negative Approach."

Sarrazin recorded the EP himself at the Slobs' practice space, allowing the band to have complete control. "I like working that way," he says. "We can do as many takes as we want without feeling bad about it. We also tracked everything but the vocals live as an attempt to capture that rawer texture we're aiming for. The whole thing took roughly four hours."

The recording engineer and guitarist has had this raw sound in mind ever since he formed the band in early 2009. After jamming with bassist Yannick Simard Ricard and Louis-Pierre Parenteau, he met vocalist Andrew Curtis at a party and immediately imagined his voice over their tracks. "I was having a little chat with the guy on New Year's Eve and I realized his voice tone matched what I envisioned for the band," Sarrazin says.


 With the intent to record a 12-song LP for release later this year and a summer tour in the works, there is no sign of slowing down these Slobs. If you ask Sarrazin, however, their long-term plans are a little more sinister.

"Well, everyone in the band is a reptilian so our ultimate goal is to take over the planet and turn the surviving humans into slaves," he quips. "But in the meantime, we're content with eating a baby or two here and there. Reptilians are very patient."

Look Busy, Do Nothing was released earlier this month and can be ordered here. The band will be playing a record release show on April 1 at Barfly in Montreal.

Look Busy, Do Nothing:

1. "Technophile"
2. "Weapons Free"
3. "The Slob"
4. "Assembly Line"

Tour dates:

4/1 Montreal, QC - Barfly
4/16 Montreal, QC - Barfly

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