Slack Alice 5th Birthday Compilation

Bristol’s Slack Alice gang celebrate their 5th year of running no-fux-given / lots-of-fun-had parties in pubs and other spots with a killer compilation by artists who have performed music & drank together here over the years –

Held together by artist & DJs Max Kelan (Bad Tracking / Salac / ATC), YOKEL (Plaque / ATC), and boss DJ’s Anina and Nadoone, Slack Alice kicked things off in the infamous Surrey Vaults pub (RIP) on weekday evenings back in the day. From Noise, to Industrial, Synth Pop, EBM, Dancehall, Grime, Jazz, Post-Punk, there were no rules and it was always that pub event where you’d go and hear a mix of stuff you might not hear at your usual pub.
But then, Surrey Vaults was no ‘usual pub’ anyway – it was more like some kind of youth centre turned loose, with a nice mix of random friends and unknowns hunched up together in those confines. Usually it’d happen downstairs by the bar with that haggard PA, under the stairwell, or on some occasions in the upstairs room. There was that time when the sub was barely able to be lifted up the fire escape doors in order to get it up there, but the window rattling that ensued made it worthwhile. There are many other drunken stories of course. Then there was the Brunswick Club, an old Working Men’s Club turned venue / artist space, literally up the road from the Surrey Vaults, and with a similar DIY spirit. Both the Surrey & The Brunswick Club had to shut down in recent time, due to the usual frictions with landlords / investors, and are sadly missed.
This scenario, and of course a certain pandemic, put Slack Alice’s events on hold for a little while. But the good news is that the new Surrey Vaults (re)incarnation Mickey Zoggs aka the Noods Radio HQ, and the much anticipated opening of new venue Strange Brew, and revamped ‘The Exchange’ are giving nights like Slack Alice the chance to continue to exist in it’s own anarchic way and continue bring people together and ‘ave some fkin fun, basically.
With that in mind – What better way to celebrate at least a small victory amongst the toughness and misery of much of the last 18months, than to showcase a selection of the extended Slack Alice family via this compilation?