Back in the 90s, shortly after the whole ‘Madchester’ scene exploded, indie bands everywhere were quoted in interviews as saying ‘there’s always been a dance element to our music’ ahead of the release of a half-arsed crossover album that was neither indie nor dance, just bilge. Times have changed, and cross-pollination and career progression mean it’s more acceptable for acts not only to merge previously incompatible elements, but also to change styles quite dramatically (provided they can pull it off… Editors, take note).
Steaming Satellites can at least legitimately claim to be an indie band who’ve always had an electro / dance element to their sound, and ‘Slipstream’ sees them drawling equally on 90s indie, classic rock and spaced-out dance to create exactly the hybrid sound you’d expect. What counts, of course, is how well they do it, and they do it pretty well for the most part, with ‘Another Love’ locking into an entrancing blissed-out groove, and there’s a Faces vibe about ‘Another Try’
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The baggy Hammond-driven world soul of ‘Notice’, with its nauseating funk breakdown at the end notwithstanding, ‘Slipstream’ is an album that’s energetic and succeeds in being simultaneously vintage and contemporary.
Steaming Satellites Online
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