executive slacks: s/t

Executive Slacks was spawned in the humidity of post-industrial Philadelphia by restless art students Matt Marello, John Young and Albert Ganss. Starting with performance art in subways, they soon took their angst-ridden act to galleries and night clubs. The trio recorded four songs in the fall of 1982 that became their self-titled EP released by local independent label Red Records in 1983. On this debut, Marello roars and churns out white-hot shards of guitar while Young’s short-circuited noise machines and Ganss’s industrial metal drums create dramatic body rhythms. The Slacks drew their influences from contemporaries like Cabaret Voltaire and Tuxedomoon, but also from extremes like disco and dadaism. Songs were created using heavily modified synthesizers and various percussive instruments: industrial steel drums, a filing cabinet, metal rods and an African drum covered in antelope skin. Executive Slacks’ unique brew of primitive electronics, harsh guitars and aggressive vocals inspired many bands like Ministry, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy. All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in the original jacket featuring a painting by Ganss, each copy includes an eight-page booklet with lyrics, photos and press clippings from the band’s archives. As James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem said of “The Bus”: “I always wanted to make a sound like that.”