October, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 49
SOUNDS LIKE:High-impact
pop-punk crammed with hooks
and one-liners
FOR FANS OF:Honeyblood,
Wolf Alice, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
WHY YOU SHOULD PAY AT-
TENTION:Norwegian quartet
Sløtface have scored attention
for their social-media-unfriendly
name (formerly Slutface, and
still pronounced that way) and
a slew of ultra-punchy EPs.
But their debut album,Try
Not to Freak Out, produced
by Dan Austin (You Me at Six,
Surfer Blood), exudes off -
the-chart levels of crossover
appeal. That’s especially true
in Australia, where the bandare streamed more than in
any other country, and where
they’ll play shows along the
east coast this month. Put that
cross-global attraction down to
their rocketing choruses, gritty
melodies and frontwoman Haley
Shea’s magnetic lyrics, which
mingle pop-culture quips with
raw looks inwards.
THEY SAY:“I started my first
band when I was 11,” says Shea,
crediting after-school programs
as much as casual basement ses-
sions. All of Sløtface’s members
brought that same depth of
experience to the LP, writing
songs for eight hours a day over
a concentrated six-month burstto yield snarling gold like the
pop-driven riot grrrl anthem
“Magazine”. “In our heads we’re
a punk band,”
she explains. “But
when it comes to
music, we’re not
punk. We really
like pop music, and
we really like to
dance. That’s
how we end up
where we do.” As
for her whirlwind references,
Shea says: “I just tried to be as
specifi c as possible. When my
favourite bands make references
I understand, it’s like a ticket to
this secret club. You’ve foundyour people.” That extends to
her more serious lyrics, which
call out the male gaze and rally
against the patri-
archy. “We want to
change the world,”
she admits, “in the
tiny way that we
can as a rock band
from Norway.”
HEAR FOR YOUR-
SELF: “Pitted” both
celebrates and
skewers Sløtface’s pithy pop
bent, with Shea plotting a radio
sing-along as she heads out for
the night: “I hope for Queen
Bey/But I can fake it for ‘Bohe-
mian Rhapsody’.” DOUG WALLENSløtface
“We want to
change the
world, in the
tiny way that
we can as a
rock band.”