Sluff (CD)
Naked Giants
Amoeba Review
09/07/2020
Seattle’s very own Naked Giants aren’t here for your baseless grunge comparisons, no matter how badly with which you want to festoon them. Sure, they’ve internalized the effortless catchiness of overdriven angst that is Nevermind, no doubt, but their fun-loving demeanor and outward goofiness is a lot more beholden to bands like Weezer and Nerf Herder than any flannel clad dwellers of the early '90s Rain City set. Christ, would Soundgarden ever release a song earnestly titled “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)”? Didn’t think so. With a name like Sluff, it’s fair to say that the album isn’t a well of self-serious introspection, but the nonsense is part and parcel of Naked Giant’s youthful charm. Producer Steve Fisk, another heavyweight name of the Pacific Northwest, strikes a balance between studio polish and garage rock chaos in his mix, which keeps the songs sounding bright and shiny without neutering the energy behind them. Known for their kinetic live show, Naked Giants take ample opportunity on record to let their freak flag fly, particularly on album highlight “TV”: a twitchy, fuzz-drenched shredfest that takes the best of Thee Oh Sees’ speedy psychedelia while toning down the cartoony comic book lyricisms. Sluff is purely unselfconscious rock ‘n roll, the kind that indulges in all the fun stuff (sing along choruses, guitar solos, high fives) while discarding all that other unimportant junk. We’re all the better for it.