Posted on Monday, February 02, 2009 5:24 PM
A surprise from Portland. The Slants play "Chinatown Dance Rock", which means synth driven garage rock songs with borderline emo lyrics. They are by no means a novelty act, but determined to bring the sound of eighties UK acts like Depeche Mode and The Human League up to date with an indie band attitude peppered with stray notes culled from the musical tradition of the Far East.
Their album Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts pays tribute to their peers - the opening notes of Stranglehold sound quite like Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. With treated vocals and plenty of echo and reverb they go down like a storm on festival that cater to the Asian demographic. Time to break out that niche and show the world that dance rock knows no borders.
Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts is a self-released album. Buy it from the band's website.
Tracks:
- Sakura Sakura
- Capture Me Burning
- We Will Never Die
- Stranglehold
- Haruki Murakami
- Love Within My Sins
- Jin-Do
- I Want Everything
- Kokoro (I Fall To Pieces)
- Welcome To Doomtown
- Vice Versus Virtue
Live dates:
- 02/06 Ikkicon at the Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
- 02/07 Ikkicon at the Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
- 02/08 Ikkicon at the Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
- 02/12 The Red Room - Relaunch party, Portland, OR
- 02/24 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
- 03/01 Sunset Tavern, Seattle, Washington
- 03/07 The Ike Box, Salem, OR
- 03/12 Anime Oasis EVO at the Holiday Inn, Boise, Idaho
- 03/13 Anime Oasis EVO at the Holiday Inn, Boise, Idaho
- 03/14 Anime Oasis EVO at the Holiday Inn, Boise, Idaho
- 03/15 Anime Oasis EVO at the Holiday Inn, Boise, Idaho
- 03/18 SXSW, Austin, TX
- 03/19 SXSW, Austin, TX
- 03/20 SXSW, Austin, TX
- 03/21 Mizuumi-Con at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, TX
- 03/21 SXSW, Austin, TX
- 03/22 SXSW, Austin, TX
- 03/25 Halocene, Portland, OR
- 03/27 Japan Nite 2009 Tour: The Hi-Dive, Seattle, Washington
- 04/03 MTAC Infinity at Music City Sheraton, Nashville, TN
- 04/04 MTAC Infinity at Music City Sheraton, Nashville, TN
- 04/05 MTAC Infinity at Music City Sheraton, Nashville, TN
- 04/10 Sakuracon at the WA State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington
- 04/11 Sakuracon at the WA State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington
- 04/12 Sakuracon at the WA State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington
- 04/18 University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
- 05/08 Anime Central at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
- 05/09 Anime Central at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
- 05/10 Anime Central at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
- 06/06 Dragoon Moon Festival, Portland, OR
MP3: The Slants - Kokoro (I Fall To Pieces)
» theslants.com
» myspace.com/theslants