SLALOM D+JOY DISPOSAL UNIT+HEADSWITCHER@LAB/NORTHAMPTON
Schedule
Sat, 28 Feb, 2026 at 08:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Lab Northampton | Northampton, EN
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SLALOM D, hailing from Sunderland and named after a now defunct brand of strong lager infamous amongst local punks, was formed in 2018, and project a forward-looking punk sound, combining innovative melodies, raw power and a fearless exploration of contemporary social issues.https://slalomd2.bandcamp.com/
+JOY DISPOSAL UNIT
"Post punk/indie with a smidgen of doom."
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552473119999
"Those familiar with Northampton’s vibrant and diverse music scene will recognise the name Joy Disposal Unit as this quartet have livened up many an evening with their quirky sound. With their latest EP, Len Without Legacy, just released it looks as if the rest of the nation will cotton on to their dark delights. Featuring five tracks that are decidedly post-punk/indie/noise flavoured, Len Without Legacy finds the band writing their future in bold strokes.
Typical of the band’s modus operandi, there’s no fancy introductions or preambles, just a crash of chords, caustic vocals and a drum kit tumbling down the stairs. The band arrive with zero fanfare, and they are all the more powerful for it. Simultaneously tuneful and discordant, there’s something strangely alluring about the first track ‘Alexander’. It’s a neat tension of opposites that finds a brittle, unbreakable beat married to that melodic, contrary sound and are somehow melded into a cohesive whole which makes ‘Alexander’ (and the whole EP) such a winner. I don’t know what kind of alchemy the band are employing but if there was a way they could bottle it and sell it, I’m sure they’d make a fortune. Some of the credit must go to Alex Botten who recorded this EP for the band and he has employed the full dynamic range and listening to ‘Alexander’ is not unlike being pulled apart by horses (I imagine) with the divergent sound wrestling at the outer reaches of the speakers.
Joy Disposal Unit come armed with a bunch of songs that are tuneful and catchy in the way that post-punk often is. Think The Fall and I, Ludicrous at their most effervescent and you’d have something approaching the sound of these Northamptonians. Laregely forsaking solos in favour of a riff heavy assault, Len Without Legacy is punchy and pugnacious and post-punk in it’s original definition: while they haven’t torn up the past completely, it’s hard to hear any influences on ‘Something Deplorable’. It’s rootless and cosmopolitan and original in a way that much modern music isn’t. Featuring half a dozen tracks that each have their own identity, this EP never stops in one place for long with the swirling title-track sitting next to sinister closer ‘The Docker’ quite effortlessly."
+ HEADSWITCHER
"Alternative/Grunge Band from Northampton"
https://www.facebook.com/headswitcheruk
£7 tickets/door £10
Tickets via spiral archive records/Northampton or pay via paypal; [email protected]
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Where is it happening?
The Lab Northampton, The Lab Northampton, Northampton, NN1 3, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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