Series Review: SLUG RIOT
Slug Riot is one of the funniest gems you will find on the internet. Created by Mike Rosenthal, and produced by Cartoon Hangover, Slug Riot follows a legendary self-destructive guitarist of the same name who returns home to rot. In his community, Slug Riot is known as the king of moldcore (a music genre that sounds like grunge meets noise rock). But his little sister Georgia won’t let him rest, and continuously pushes him to reform his band. Along with their friend Very Deadward, Slug Riot is a ridiculous trip of laughs and fun.
While the series consists of just five episodes roughly under four minutes long each, they all serve as a comedic window into the world of our protagonists. The first episode has Georgia trying to push Slug Riot into playing a homecoming show as he constantly refuses. Her and Very Deadward take off to play the show, where the latter says he has a song idea about two centipedes. When they get on stage, Very Deadward places his bass on the ground, and takes two centipedes out of his pocket (watching as they crawl over the strings). The episode concludes with Slug Riot crashing down through the ceiling in his car, introducing a new bass player (that’s actually a naval mine). For all of the randomness that takes place, Slug Riotnever feels like it’s just cramming things in for the hell of it. Every action and line of dialogue makes sense in the show’s world. The animation is vibrant, and sells each crazy moment with fluid motion.
There’s an Adventure Time vibe when it comes to the oddball antics and dialogue. There’s another episode where Slug Riot breaks a cassette of Georgia’s that had music from his old band. There aren’t many copies of the cassette, so the protagonists set off to look for another one. The group eventually makes their way to Slug Riot’s ex-girlfriend’s apartment, where it’s believed she has a copy. While looking, Georgia makes a comment about a bed, Slug Riot throws in his own comment, and Very Deadward shares, “I sleep in the nightmares of children”. It’s a line that comes out of left field, making it all the more comedically gut punching.
Whereas Slug Riot and Very Deadward are much weirder characters, Georgia adds a touch of emotion to the series. She’s humorous in her own way, but is a little more grounded. In that same storyline with the cassette, it’s explained that Slug Riot’s ex-girlfriend Shannon was in his original band. In going to Shannon’s apartment, it’s the group’s goal to find and steal the cassette from her. While Slug Riot and Very Deadward are joking around, Georgia finds the cassette, and sees a photo of Slug Riot and Shannon taped to the back of it. She decides to tell the guys that she could not find what she was looking for. Georgia tells Slug Riot that she just wanted to have her own copy of the cassette in case he ever left town again, but that she does not want to take away from someone else’s memories. The episode then ends with Very Deadward standing outside the apartment, with Slug Riot backing up into him with his car.
Slug Riot is a hilarious show that knows how to toss random weirdness at its viewers, while also packing in tender moments of emotion. Creator Mike Rosenthal shares bits of commentary at the end of each episode, presenting a unique perspective into the show. In one case he talks about how some people find their identity through the music they listen to, and how Slug Riotis an exploration of that.
The animation is great, the writing is great, everything is great about Slug Riot. The only thing this show needs is more episodes. You can watch the trailer for the show below, as well as watch the entire five episodes here. By the time you finish the series, you’ll be head banging and screaming for more.
