I can already hear you think: "Boy, another MxPx Wannabe..." To be honest, I thought so myself when I first heard "Rusty". But I started to listen more and more and you know what: THIS ALBUM RAWKS!!! I just love singer Ryan's voice (only 15 years old!). When I compare this band to MxPx (which is hard to not do) they totally have their own style!
The name Slick Shoes comes from the Spielberg-movie "The Goonies"... When the kids in the movie are in a cave and being chased by the 'bad guys', the smart Chinese inventor kid tries to get rid of them by putting oil or something on the ground. The slippery stuff comes from... his slick shoes! What this guy says then to the rest of the kids is what you hear on the beginnning of the album. (nice!)
One main point is, in my opinion, the technichal skill of guitar player Jackson Mould: he plays so good that, if Slick Shoes were an eighties hardrock band, the guitar would have sounded too nice and he would probably have been kicked out of the group because the others in the band'd be jealous ;-)
But Slick Shoes is a "nineties" new school punk rock band, not an "eighties" hard rock band and now, the guitar just cuts right through all nice songs and gives Slick Shoes this really cool "rough" sound. I just can't wait to meet 'em and mosh to their tight sound!!! So you guys get over here : we wanna have some fun in Europe too!
About the lyrics: the lyrics are quite serious. They deal with topics such as love, abortion and God and I think they're very construcive, because these lyrics were written in such a way that you can relate to them. The songs about love "dominate" the lyrics of "Rusty". I think all of these lyrics make sense, and I think it's great that these guys dare to be critical about the American government ("By What Right"). What government forbids kids to pray in school? I don't think that this can fit in the definition of Democracy! These lyrics give you something to think about. And the music ain't bad either!
If you have to wear shoes,
why don't you try on a pair of Slick ones???
Martijn