EP REVIEW: Student Slasher Film – IF/IF/NOT

’…an incredibly solid foundation for this exciting fledgling band to build from…’

Author’s Note: This review is part of Catch-Up Week 2024, in which we check out a couple of projects that slipped under the radar during this past year, before we close out 2024 with the end of year listings! – Ry

There has perhaps never been a better time to be an emo fan in the UK. Not only is there a greater chance of seeing your favourite American heroes playing over here, but the UK’s scene is perhaps better than ever before, packed with upcoming acts that all bring their own engaging spins on midwest emo. One such outfit is the Leeds-based Student Slasher Film, who arrived on the scene earlier this year with their debut EP, ‘IF/IF/NOT’.

Between moments such as the punchy ‘Hilbert’s Hotel’ and the surprisingly groovy ‘if / if / not’, Student Slasher Film offer fourteen minutes of substantial midwest emo fun that is delivered with great energy, wonderful charm, and a bittersweet wit. They perfectly understand how to balance instrumental technical proficiency with pure catchiness, and in the process conjure up some emo anthems that feel oven ready for your favourite dirty local venue. Their usage of gang vocals, such as in the closing moments of the tital track, is brilliantly done, imploring you to sing along, beer can in raised hand.

‘Set Something Important On Fire’, however, is perhaps what best represents the band and the promise they hold. The noodling guitar riffs and uncompromisingly catchy vocals are delivered with a slight hint of post-hardcore rawness that gives the band a sense of ferocity and complexity that separates them from the rest of their cohort. Some of the percussion in the back half of this track is particularly phenomenal, ripping through shockingly danceable rhythms without outshining the bittersweet emotive weight of the rest of the track, before taking on an immense sense of scale during the bristling gang vocal chorus.

‘IF/IF/NOT’ isn’t a release that will totally revolutionise the scene, but instead offers an incredibly solid foundation for this exciting fledgling band to build from; it is incredibly easy to imagine Student Slasher Film becoming the cult heroes of tomorrow. An impressive and wonderfully fun start to a potentially bright career.

RATING: 76/100 – Mostly Very Good

For Fans Of: saturdays at your place, Pale Sailor, Danger Dog, Vienna, Kerosene Heights

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify