“As Slash Need’s unique dark techno/hardcore sounds filled the venue, I had to grip the edge of the stage as people pushed forward to behold—not just the music, but the visual experience that is Slash Need…”
 
I wrote these words nearly one year ago for my review of the Toronto techno-punk duo Slash Need’s M for Mothland performance at La Sotterenea. When I heard they would be back at La Sotterenea for POP Montreal this past Thursday, September 25th, I knew I had to seize the opportunity to see where Slash Need was one year later and reflect on my conversation with them from last time. Keeping up with their recorded stuff this past year has been great, but never enough to fully grasp the art of Slash Need. As Dusty Lee (lead singer) said, “We are part performance art, part band… always have been.”
 
That Slash Need has not given up on their performance art was evident from the moment Alex Low (producer) put a finger to the synthesizer and Fred Durst’s voice rang out into the crowd from a 2003 interview saying, “I’m talking pleather tights, sequins, corsets, man. I’m talking about cheetah nut sacks with strings and chains, man. Black, black shiny things…” Alex engineered the soundbite, reversing, deepening, and replaying it as he slowly began to overlay it with the beat of Slash Need’s “Border Town”. As the beat dropped and Dusty screamed out the lyrics, the contrast between the art and its inspiration couldn’t have been starker:
 
“That song was inspired by the stifling drone of monotony and violent condemnation that comes from disregarding or aggravating the norm when you live in a smaller town or in a more conservative setting.”
– Dusty Lee on “Border Town”
 
Far from monotony and conservative judgment now, Dusty was accompanied by their dancers, Stella and Camille, who wore their pantyhose masks done up with red lipstick and blue eyeshadow, along with ripped fishnets, leather jackets, and mesh bodysuits. Crawling on the ground, tapping audience members’ shoulders, shining flashlights in faces, and swinging around the legs of their pantyhose masks — each action seemed to dare any such judgment and condemnation to stifle their greatness now. Dusty was done up with their classic white face paint, black teeth, fishnets, latex, and black leather gloves and boots. If any doubt remained of their commitment to the unabashed and confrontational appearance, their cover of Sexual Harassment’s 1983 song “I Need a Freak” that followed left no room for any uncertainty; Slash Need does not hold back.
 
As Alex Low continued to produce the pounding, hypnotic beats and Dusty Lee belted out the lyrics to several upcoming releases for their new album (out soon!), the crowd was entranced, whooping and dancing among Dusty and the dancers themselves. In true Slash Need fashion, they ignored the stage and set their equipment up right on the floor of the venue, creating all the more impact and confrontation. As I stood outside for a breather after the show, the mass exodus of leather-jacket-clad young and old punks complained as they walked past, “That ended too soon!”
 
All quotes from Slash Need in this piece are from my interview with them last year, which you can read here. Slash Need will be back in Montreal in early November, when I will be interviewing them for CKUT’s show Bursting the Bubble. Keep an eye out!
 
Article by Cece Callaghan