Slab

Like <a href="spotify:artist:7bbNDyqoHKXXk7GYxigXa1">Lionrock</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1GhPHrq36VKCY3ucVaZCfo">the Chemical Brothers</a>, Slab are a Brit-hop outfit who've made the decision to not decide between guitars and synthesizers, combining the two in raucous, decidedly un-subtle ways. Formed by <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Nina Walsh</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:15enV9io8zA6Joh9MrobdU">Lol Hammond</a> in 1995, the group combine dirty, distorted breaks, bubbling acid lines, guitar blasts, and bits of dub, techno, and rave in simple-but-effective amalgams of cheap thrills and electric bombast. To date, the group has released three EPs and a compilation/mini-album on the Hydrogen Dukebox label and been remixed by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:2skPJYe0WOmOU76qTWjK8B">Monkey Mafia</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19SmlbABtI4bXz864MLqOS">Carl Cox</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3w0vR06WHMVwMe1G20wmlS">Sabres of Paradise</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:33Ztukerf3He8FeKk5acn8">2 Lone Swordsmen's</a> Andrew Weatherall. The last is a connection worth expanding upon; in addition to Slab, <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Nina Walsh</a> is the force behind Sabrettes, an underling imprint to Weatherall's <a href="spotify:artist:3w0vR06WHMVwMe1G20wmlS">Sabres of Paradise</a> empire, and released a number of popular EPs from the likes of Inky Blacknuss, Innersphere, and Turbulent Force. <a href="spotify:artist:15enV9io8zA6Joh9MrobdU">Lol Hammond</a> is a former member of popular U.K. tribal/techno group <a href="spotify:artist:6xU9ziz0wfaROIaNYCZomL">the Drum Club</a>, which he left in 1995 to focus on Slab. Both <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:15enV9io8zA6Joh9MrobdU">Hammond</a> are accomplished instrumentalists, and the group's live show is one of the most integrated (i.e., in terms of electronics and acoustics) on the U.K. scene. Slab's mini-LP Freeky Speed was reissued domestically in 1996 by Sm:)e Communications. ~ Sean Cooper, Rovi