Saturday 7 July 2018

Backwoods Payback - Future Slum (Album Review)



Release date: August 03rd 2018. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Future Slum – Tracklisting

1.Pirate Smile
2.Lines
3.Whatever
4.It Ain't Right
5.Threes
6.Cinderella
7.Generals
8.Big Enough
9.Alone
10.Lucky

Members

Jessica Baker, Mike Cummings, Erik Larson

Review

Greetings All,

I first discovered Backwoods Payback through the sadly, now gone Dullest Records label out of Philly. Their last album, Fire Without Reason was an intense slab of raw rock fury. Their new record, Future Slum, finds this Pennsylvania power trio with a bit of a more polished sound. The record has a very grunge rock sound to it, heavy but melodic. Backwoods Payback are pessimistic, pissed off and catchy as hell. Future slum has big guitars and bass bringing riff after riff, monstrous drums and tons of vocal harmony, with some sweet male/female vocal interplay.

The record opens with the whiplash, politically charged rock of Pirate Smile. Which leads into the slower tempo of Lines, the song has QOTSA groove about it that gives way to a heavy, rockin outro. One of the truly stellar tracks on the record is Whatever. With it’s immensely groovy riff and killer harmony vocals that will be stuck in your head for weeks the song swoons then rocks into a heavy middle eight before closing with an intense call and response outro. The equally stellar It Ain’t Right follows with near rock perfection on this mid tempo gem.

Threes brings back the heavy with a wicked groove and a rolling drum outro. The ominous and hushed sound of Cinderella is a bass and drum heavy slab of darkness. Generals is another politically charged anthem with a more hardcore/punk feel. It contains elements of spoken word vocals and a shouted mantra/warning to “Don’t become what you hate!” Big Enough is a blast of fuzzed out perfection. Catchy lyrics and a killer vibe accentuate this excellent track. A big riff intro brings in Alone, which is an intense and tightly wound rocker that closes with a heartbeat like drum beat. The record closes with the slow, heaviness of Lucky, a massive track to close a massive record.

Future Slum is the record that is and should push Backwoods Payback to the next level. It is pure quality from beginning to end. The record feels as though it could have been released 25 years ago and would have warranted the same attention. This PA power trio have struck all the right chords and delivered a record that will most definitely stay in heavy rotation for the foreseeable future.

Todd S - Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Words by Todd Stealey

Thanks to Dewar PR for the promo. Future Slum will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from August 03rd 018.

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