PopSyndicate.com

Awful rubbish!

MasterSlashSlave is a two-man band that really doesn’t care if you think they are cheating by playing along with pre-programmed keyboards.  Their music is a not-so-successful revival of early 90s pop, with preprogrammed keyboard drums with 80s synths and guitars thrown in for not-so-good measure. How they have been on five tours and created two seven-inch vinyls plus a CD EP is beyond me. There is nothing uniquely definitive about this band, or their songs.  Scandal is classic, early 80s-style music.  This would date them accordingly with Madonna’s self-titled debut album.

Some of the songs on the CD are good, but they are not of the caliber you’d find at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Rather, you’ll find this duo playing for festivals and on the bill with other performers.  I couldn’t find anything that indicated they were the main act on any bill.  They sound like Kraftwerk.

Many of their songs on the album start off with a Bach strain and segue into a rock number with strange names.  In listening to the tracks, I couldn’t find the title of the songs anywhere in the lyrics.  With songs like “Cold Calls,” “Slummin’,” and “Them Thighs,” their accompanying music is better than the lyrics.

The music on Scandal is bland and nothing spectacular shows itself. There are no derring-do feats or thrills about this music.  It is repetitive in nature and tries to create an ambience of Kraftwerk’s efforts to be novel and earth shattering.  After playing a few tracks of the same mundane music, it’s just easier to turn off the player and move on to something else, something more stimulating and fulfilling.
Matt Jones is the vocalist on the album and he has his own sound – one that you are either going to love or hate.  I felt like I was listening to a nasal twang at times and just couldn’t hang on to the meaning behind the songs.
MasterSlashSlave will do best on the festival circuit and appearances in small theaters.  I cannot see them performing on their own, having raving airplay success, or being the lead act for a gathering.

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