The Eternal Return by Slinky Vagabond

Slinky Vagabond
The Eternal Return
Independent

If Bowie was the rock and roll Socrates, then Keanan Duffty and Fabio Fabbri of Slinky Vanguard express themselves through the Platonic School of Rock, along with about everyone whom they touch. The New York concept band returns with follow up to their 2021 release, King Boy Vandals. From the beginning, the two brought in a power class of musicians including Midge Ure (Ultravox and Visage), Dave Formula (Magazine and Visage), Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) and others.

For The Eternal Return, we see collaborations with Sex Pistols guitarist Glenn Matlock, Earl Slick (David Bowie and John Lennon), American singer and model Ava Cherry—who also worked with David Bowie in the 1970s—Mike Garson (David Bowie, Duran Duran, Nine Inch Nails, etc.), composer Dom Beken, and Percy Jones (Brand X).

The Eternal Return launches under the concept that time repeats itself in an infinite cycle. Duffty’s answer to the band’s purpose is that “we must be creative to fulfill our higher selves.” And by exploring creativity in that mindset, they look outward.

Don’t look for them to push the envelope into new territory, but they carefully deconstruct what a great rock song should be and understand more than most what rock as an artform means.

The Eternal Return removes barriers like with “Strange World,” a song that is influenced by the Frank Edwards book of the same name. The song’s ideology reminds me of Havana 3 AM’s “Reach the Rock, just exchange rockabilly with psychedelia and infuse a Latin spin, naturally inspired by Ennio Morricone or easily pointed in that direction.

“Icarus Falls” stares into Western Civilization and the wonders of ‘90s Brit Pop to fuel their sound here. It’s only a means of sneaking up on you for an understanding of what a well-written song this is. The song spends time with how they can take something immortal and make it so personal. From the jangle of the guitars to the footsteps of the beat, their song simply becomes yours.

From the alluring “Lady Bump Discotheque” to the finesse of the drifting ‘90s-esque rock pondering of “I Can Fly,” everything and in between feels like a Bowie manuscript sending us into the cosmos again to float. The album ends with a huge gratitude bow as “End of the Show” is co-written by Slick, Bowie’s premiere guitarist from the mid-1970s.

There are enough alumni here to charge up a room. And there is enough talent to construct a highly fascinating collection of songs that dig deep to explore beautiful human ideas, even as the music gets deeper and deeper into universality.