Back in August, we noted the return of Slow Down Molasses after a five year absence, the Saskatoon indie rock outfit releasing a gloriously scuzzy cover of ‘Follow’ by Canadian indie rock royalty Eric’s Trip as something of a reintroduction. SLM’s last album, 2021’s Minor Deaths, was a weighty, visceral release (“there is no prevailing mood or conclusion,” as we put it in our review, “just a committed decision to embrace the energies of the contemporary moment in all of their frustrations, aggressions, vulnerabilities and dread”), but this new era promises to ramp things up even further, dialling into a spirit of concision and aggression in order to meet the moment.
Now Slow Down Molasses have shared single ‘Life Without Buildings’, their first original material since Minor Deaths and a clear indication of what to expect from subsequent releases. With Hüsker Dü and Archers of Loaf as lodestars, the song offers a sound at once momentous and rambunctious, leaning into a chaotic energy and emerging triumphant because of it. But supporting vocals by Erica, Julie and Lenore Maier (of The Garrys) deepen the track and expand its thematic resonance, existing in something like opposition to the forward motion. Like the figurative common sense amid the hectic clatter and bang, trying to hold things together in case the whole thing comes crashing down.
The resulting conflict is fitting considering the song’s concerns, detailing the experiences of a touring band in the 2020s, where urgent progress might not so much conquer concerns as drown them out beneath the rush. “I feel sometimes that being in a band and on tour, it’s easy to get lost in the minute to minute importance of getting to the next show, playing the next song, finishing that last lyric, or finding that perfect arrangement that keeps us excited and moving forward,” explains lead Tyson McShane. “Then the next thing you know you come up for air, look around and realize you aren’t certain where you are or how you ended up there. Lyrically this song tries to capture that feeling. Particularly the last few years coming out of some of our most successful UK and European tours, trying to figure out the post-pandemic music industry and where we fit in, it took a bit to get back to releasing music, so it feels appropriate as the first of our new songs to be shared.”