"We’re a group of friends heavily involved in the Cleveland hardcore scene that had a lot of free time last summer," says Andrew Albrecht, vocalist of SLUG. "Between a few of us being laid off from our jobs with the pandemic, and really missing shows, we got together to start jamming and ended up with a sound we thought was cool."
A lot of other people think it sounds cool as No Echo has noticed online since the 4-song SLUG demo appeared back in February. "It’s hardcore punk," opines Andrew when No Echo asks him about his band's sound, "we try to have a certain level of intensity to the songs that make people wanna move or sing along. We do our best to trim all the songs as lean as we can, no nonsense.
"We’re heavily influenced by great Boston hardcore bands like Stop and Think, Step Forward, Boston Strangler, and early Lockin' Out bands."
Not wasting any time, Andrew and his SLUG bandmates are blessing us with some new material today. "After seeing the response the demo got we’ve been really motivated to write songs that we feel are even better. We wanted to get a few more tracks out before we start playing shows and have fun with what we’re doing at the same time.
"On this release there’s two new songs and a Righteous Jams cover because we figured hey, why not really lean into the Boston thing?"
"The first song, Introspection,' is exactly what the title states. It’s a very honest look at how I feel about myself based on the experiences I’ve had up to this point in my life. Based on conversations I’ve had, I think a lot of people will find the lyrics relatable.
"'Estrangement' deals with my upbringing in a church setting, being fed up dealing with hypocrites in that setting, and distancing myself from it."
If you're a regular No Echo reader, I don't have to tell you how many great bands have been coming out of The Forest City in the last year or so.
Andrew shows some love:
"Ohio hardcore is really on the come up, if you ask me. I wanna shout out are the bands we’re playing our first show with at the Delayed Gratification Records showcase in Cleveland on July 30th: Last Gasp, Ten High, Rejoice, Circus, and S.M.I.L.E. from Cleveland, Columbus, and Akron, respectively."
Delayed Gratification Records will be releasing the new Slug songs as limited edition cassette, so hit this link if you want a copy.
SLUG on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp
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