WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

Slayyyter is a staple in slut pop. The two are basically synonymous. I dare say she is on the same level as Ayesha Erotica and Kim Petras. If you aren’t well versed in iconic hits like Daddy AF, BFF, and Mine, can you even call yourself a true lover of the genre?

But Slayyyter has come a long way from those early days. The midwest-native LA-based pop diva has been consistently recording since 2018. Even all the way back then she was named“the future of pop” by FADER. Early on, she began producing with Erotica, and her electronica era soon came to life. What has ensued has been a mixed bag, with some highs, lows, and a healthy amount of genre oscillation. WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is the full culmination of this anything-but-linear trajectory. The record is Slayyyter’s third full-length studio LP - and it's also her best.

WGIA is set in a club. One of those strip clubs you pass by while driving on the highway through the desert. The kind that looks cheap - except that's the point. Like that club, WGIA is intentionally and unapologetically trashy. And rather than feeling like a fun night out, the experience resembles a dizzing, drunken club cat-fight. In it, Slayyyter is out for blood. Pissed. Petty, Possessive. Powerful. This is true club antagonism. We can’t help but leave feeling like we ruined her night - although we don’t exactly know how.

WGIA is thoroughly vile. Over the top. Aggressive. Loud. The production is nothing short of astounding and the result is a full-sounding bath of wow-inducing, original beats. Overall, it leans more alt/edgy than its predecessors, but maintains the same bold, authentically pop chromatic essence that Slayyyter has always toyed with. The use of heavy drums, distorted synths, and electric guitars take it a long way - much further than she had ventured before. These elements take the best of rock and weaves it into the electroclash essence of the record. The artist even strays slightly from her full-out slut pop past. It’s difficult to imagine a track like Throatzilla appearing anywhere in this tracklist. Her writing is still honest - just a little more nuanced. The result is something sexy, but not in a feminine kind of way. In a free, fuck-you kind of way. It is demanding - but not needy. It’s attention-seeking - but not concerned with being beautiful. It’s intended to capture the real range of Slayyyter (including the ugly) - and in that it succeeds: “I wanna dye my hair every pretty shade of pastel; I want nasty after parties, banged up at the motel; I want beat-up Chanels, I want somethin’ for real.” 

Moreover, channeling her midwest roots, Slayyyter embraces the sleaze that blasted in her iPod as a angsty preteen - the same sleaze that is back, baby. Between the unwavering grip that y2k has on Gen-Z and the recent revival and rise of ‘messy girl’ - Slayyyter’s finger is truly on the pulse with WGIA - yet another reason the record is bound to succeed and finally launch Slayyyter, (who has been in the scene for almost a decade now) into the mainstream.

There are fleeting moments of softness on the record. One of such moments is UNKNOWN LOVERZ, which offers not only some acoustic strings and a softer tone of voice, but a glimpse of unrequited love. For the most part, however, Slayyyter stays guarded. Vulnerability has been replaced with hostility. Even GAS STATION (about abandonment), $T. LOSER (appears to be admitting admiration) or WHAT IS IT LIKED, TO BE LIKED? maintain a defensive, abrasive tone that express anger more than any authentic weaknesses.

But firing on all cylinders can be fatiguing. While downright impressive (its not easy to stay that pumped, after all) there at times at which Slayyyter’s full-throttle barking at us can feel over-bearing - especially because her voice isn’t exactly polished, per se, despite her attempts  to sound angelic (on runs like that in $T. LOSER, for example). Not only, but arguably the biggest weakness of the record is the repeated use of the same. damn. song structure. While good, DANCE…, BEAT UP CHANEL$, CANNIBALISM!, OLD TECHNOLOGY, CRANK, I’M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS, $T. LOSER all follow the same pattern. A slow, mumbled, brooding burn up to a full-out, bass-heavy attack. Underwhelming vocal-heavy verses that intermittently give way to charged choruses - clearly the main attractions. I won’t spend time critiquing this structure (although it can sometimes feel like a cop-out), as Slayyyter does it admittedly very well (come on, how could I ever deny that the production and sheer energy of CRANK, YES GODD, and I’M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS? Hell, I just want some of whatever she is on.). I won’t even venture to say that some of these tracks should have been removed - only that breaking them up with differently structured songs (like UNKNOWN LOVERZ and BRITTANY MURPHY.) would have been a welcome way to diversify the tracklist. Make no mistake: I’m not saying the record should have been softer. That would be denying the essence of what the record wanted to be. I’m simply saying playing with news song structures could have done a lot for the record - taking it from good to truly boundary-pushing. In other words, the artist seems to have played it safe with structure. And for how fearless Slayyyter seems to be, she could have been a little braver with finding new ways to be bold.

But by all means, WGIA is a solid record. It is in-your-face fun and nasty in all the right ways. It is not an easy listen. Nor is it always polished. But to be so would be a denial of its nature. And while Slayyyter might have been a little more preoccupied with drowning us in sound than conveying any of her own personal style, it is sound in which I will happily drown. Listen while getting ready. Or driving through the desert to that club. Or taking your hoops out to handle business. MWAH!