Four blokes got around a table somewhere in Manchester one day and decided to name themselves The Slow Readers Club. Whatever floats your boat. It’s possible the unimaginativeness of their name isn’t entirely unrelated to the unimaginativeness of their music.
Having had ample time pass since the 1980s, these Mancunians have adopted a sound eerily reminiscent of their English forebears, Depeche Mode. It isn’t an imitation, but their songs sound like a ground-down, simplified adaption. In other words, Slow Readers have a foundation consisting of quiet electronica, easy-going guitars and backing percussion (which sometimes breaks out into drum’n’bass) that seemingly serves to provide a platform for the booming, dominating, kingly vocals. In every song, the vocals are at the forefront, and this clear enunciation makes the occasionally terrible lyrics quite conspicuous (“I sat out, upon a lake” is a pearler from ‘Fool For Your Philosophy’).
These fellas seem like they’ve achieved half of their desired sound. Perhaps if they found one other influence and strongly infused that into their sound – like, I dunno, post-rock – they’d have the chance to be a pretty decent band. Until then, though, they’re gonna be half as good.
2/5.
Live At Central Library is out now through Extenso.
