Sluts of Trust are a two-piece rock outfit from Glasgow, Scotland, originally comprising John McFarlane (guitar, vocals) and Anthony O'Donnell (drums). O'Donnell was later replaced on drums by Roo Harris.
History
Early career
Sluts of Trust were formed in the summer of 2002 by John McFarlane and Anthony O'Donnell, after a wild three-day party, which became known as the Pirate Weekend. McFarlane and O'Donnell had first met as teenagers at Scottish Youth Theatre's Summer Festival in 1995. In the intervening years, both had begun aborted courses at Glasgow University and Cardonald College respectively, and had enjoyed limited success with separate musical projects. O'Donnell in Crambo, and in a band with fellow SYT graduate and future Harry Potter actor Sean Biggerstaff, and McFarlane had released a solo recording entitled "Broken Alarm Clock" on the Glasgow Queen Margaret Union NorthPark label compilation Unplugged, which he also performed on the BBC television programme The Beat Room. Having recently disbanded his latest group Tungsten Crust, McFarlane had been writing songs for a change of direction. He invited O'Donnell to drum with him and very quickly they blended to create a dynamic new sound. The band had originally been envisaged as a trio, but stayed as a guitar/drums duo after their prospective bass player failed to turn up to their first rehearsal.
Following the band's first UK-wide tour, supporting label-mates Aereogramme, they retreated to Chemikal Underground's recording studios, Chem19 in Hamilton to begin work on their debut album with Paul Savage of The Delgados as producer. The Evening Times called the single "an intense, uncompromising, blistering, screaming, passionate, furious sweat-drenched full-frontal aural assault". They also recorded a cover version of Talking Heads' "Psycho-Killer". before embarking on a full-scale US tour with The Delgados and Malcolm Middleton. The band returned to tour the US again within months.
Second single "Leave You Wanting More" was released in April 2004 to great acclaim, with British broadsheet The Independent making it their Single of the Week, and describing it as "a sexed-up blast of pounding riffs and art-punk breaks with an amazing amount of textures involved considering they're a mere two- piece". It was described in The Scotsman as "sounding simultaneously crazed and precision controlled".
Sluts of Trust released their debut album We Are All Sluts of Trust in Europe on 26 April and the US in May 2004 on Chemikal Underground Records, to positive reviews, but modest sales, selling up to 10,000 copies worldwide. The album was produced by Paul Savage of The Delgados (already known for producing albums by Mogwai and Aereogramme and later for producing Franz Ferdinand's third album). In addition to the material the band had been playing live, the album contained a new song titled "Pirate Weekend". Something of a departure from the band's sleazy garage rock, the song featured lush and haunting overdubbed harmonies and would become a fan favourite. To support the album's release the duo quickly embarked on another UK tour.
Following a UK tour, the band returned to the United States to promote the album there. The band had been invited to tour with burlesque dance group Suicide Girls and played to large audiences across the USA. The NME published an extensive feature on the tour along with pictures from an exclusive photo-shoot of the band with members of Suicide Girls. During a break in the tour Sluts of Trust travelled to Los Angeles to play their own gigs at Amoeba Records, L.A Spaceland, and nightclub The Viper Room.
Second line-up
On the duo's return to the UK they immediately began touring the country once again, however in November 2004, tired of the relentless touring, drummer Anthony O'Donnell left the band to concentrate on his writing career in theatre and television. McFarlane moved swiftly to recruit Roo Harris as his replacement. The pair began rehearsing the material from the band's debut album, along with some new McFarlane originals in early 2005.
The new line-up of Sluts of Trust played their first official gig at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas in March 2005. It was here that they were introduced to an up-and-coming new London band called Bloc Party. Already fans of the Sluts' debut album, Bloc Party would prove to be great allies to the band as their own star began to rise. As well as effusing on their love of Sluts of Trust in many interviews, Bloc Party's Gordon Moakes was seen to wear a Sluts of Trust T-shirt when the band played Glastonbury, and on the front cover of the NME. Bloc Party would also invite Sluts of Trust to support them on a European tour later that year.
In the summer of 2005 Sluts of Trust unveiled their new line-up to the UK at a series of festival appearances. The band played at T in the Park, Musicworks, T on the Fringe and fittingly John Peel Day. Their appearance as part of the Edinburgh Festival featured the Suicide Girls.
In early 2008 at a low-key solo gig where he played a full set of new material he announced his intention to return with a new Sluts of Trust album later in the year.
Musical style
The band were described by The Scotsman as "a seedy 1970s porn baron and his silent but violent henchman playing gutter-trawling, kerb-crawling blues punk with skyscraping vocals and a predilection for the occasional Eddie Van Halen guitar 'lick'", also being described as "testosterone-fuelled bluesy punk". The band have been called "a Scots White Stripes", but with "much more hidden menace", with songs described as "a mix of Led Zeppelin and 90s American indie", with their style described as "scuzzy experimental rock", "aggroglam", and "sleaze-rock" comprising "manic rigging, high-speed drumming and porno lyrics".
Andrew Eaton of The Scotsman described them as a combination of "the rock'n'roll basics of the White Stripes with the showy excess of The Darkness".
Discography
- "Piece O' You" / "Meanwhile In Rocksville" (double A-side single), 21 November 2003, Chemikal Underground
- "Leave You Wanting More" (single), 5 April 2004, Chemikal Underground
- We Are All Sluts of Trust (album), 26 April 2004, Chemikal Underground