Edmonton punk/ alternative rock band the Slates sound like they would be at home in the ’90s with a sound reminiscent of alt rock bands like Bush.
It is no surprise as they produced their latest CD “Taiga” with Steve Albini in his Chicago studio. Albini has recorded a few bands you might have heard of like The Black Emperor, the Jesus Lizard, Godspeed You and a little band called Nirvana.
But Albini just let the Slates loose to do what they do best— rock.
“He isn’t really a producer. He’s an engineer. He’s a pretty stress free producer,” said frontman James Stewart.
“So he set up microphones in all of these different ways an got out of the way and let us play,” said Stewart on his way to work at a video store.
The band is touring to take advantage of drummer and teacher Dallas Thompson’s time off for spring break. Guitarist Stefan Duret and bassist Lee Klippenstein complete the band’s line-up.
“He’s a really hands off producer. Some producers will want to help craft songs but he doesn’t and we didn’t want that anyway,” he continued.
“He was really nice. He was really cool. He told us all of these stories,” he said.
They completed “Taiga,” which was released Feb. 25, in only six days.
“We did a lot of work on the songs before,” he said adding the CD perfectly captures the Slates‘ sound.
“It’s getting pretty good response. We’re very pleased with it. It’s exactly what we sound like,” he said.
They are excited to return to Lethbridge.
“ We play the Owl Acoustic Lounge before. It was a real eyeopener. It was a lot of fun. it was really cool,” he said.
They are excited about touring for spring break and will probably tour during the summer when Thompson is done for the year.
“ We’ll probably do the rest of Canada then,” he said.
The Slates, Yeah Dads, Advertisements, the Ruby Plumes and Regina pop punk band These Estates play the Slice, April 2 at 9 p.m.
Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
