***Executive Slacks began in the hot, humid summer of 1980 Philadelphia by Matt Marello, John Young and Albert Ganss, three bored, broke, anxious art students. Starting out with performance art in subways, they soon took their angst-ridden act to galleries and night clubs. The band found their moniker in a run-down bookstore after seeing an ad for men’s polyester pants. They pieced together sounds that captured the growing paranoia of an age predicted by Orwell and the growing inequalities of the 1980s. In 2014 we reissued their 4-song debut EP from 1982 and asked the band if they had any demos. They excavated two cassettes that contained their earliest recorded material from 1980 and 1981. "Seams Ruff" is a 13 song compilation from these cassette collections plus a bonus flexi disc featuring a live performance on WXPN from 1980. The tracks were created with the use of heavily modified synthesizers and noisemakers, the broken innards of a grand piano, metal oil drums and a spray painted Harmony Rocket guitar. The Slacks drew their influences from contemporaries like Cabaret Voltaire, SPK and Tuxedomoon, as well as Disco and Dadaism. Dripping in nihilism, the song’s lyrics tackle the existential dread of the late 20th century and three of the songs are taken from “Mann ist Mann” a 1926 play by the German modernist author Bertolt Brecht. Executive Slacks' unique brew of primitive electronics, harsh guitars and aggressive vocals inspired many bands like Ministry, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy. All songs...
fpo $18.50
08/09/2016
Executive Slacks was spawned in the humidity of post-industrial Philadelphia by restless art students Matt Marello, John Young and Albert Ganss. Starting with performance art in subways, they soon took their angst-ridden act to galleries and night clubs. The trio recorded four songs in the fall of 1982 that became their self-titled EP released by local independent label Red Records in 1983. On this debut, Marello roars and churns out white-hot shards of guitar while Young’s short-circuited noise machines and Ganss’s industrial metal drums create dramatic body rhythms. The Slacks drew their influences from contemporaries like Cabaret Voltaire and Tuxedomoon, but also from extremes like disco and dadaism. Songs were created using heavily modified synthesizers and various percussive instruments: industrial steel drums, a filing cabinet, metal rods and an African drum covered in antelope skin. Executive Slacks’ unique brew of primitive electronics, harsh guitars and aggressive vocals inspired many bands like Ministry, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy. All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in the original jacket featuring a painting by Ganss, each copy includes an eight-page booklet with lyrics, photos and press clippings from the band’s archives. As James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem said of “The Bus”: “I always wanted to make a sound like that.”
LP $15.50
07/22/2014