Slint albums

1989

Tweez - 81%

Nothing on Tweez makes logical sense, the singing is sort of spoken word poetry, the bass and drums don’t quite play the same song, and the guitar plays these super metallic sounding riffs over everything. There are verses and choruses sometimes, and everything seems where it should be as there is repetition, but here are also clanging background noises and everything seems a bit new and unfathomable. “Carol” screams about growing up in a boring neighborhood in Louisville, Ky amidst broken beer bottles breaking; “Darlene” could bee the spookiest song the Minutemen never wrote; “Pat” is somewhat jazzy and unpredictable with a funhouse vibe. “Kent” is the Longest track here and on of the most complex rhythmic songs I have ever heard, while “Nan Ding” is a perfect example of how they had few rivals in the late 80’s for instrumental complexity. “Warren” abruptly starts and stops seemingly at random. Each song title is one of the parents or pets of the actual group members 😊

Produced by Steve Albini one of the groups heroes for sure in the underground 80’s rock scene, the spare recording quality has a live feel even though it is insanely worked out. Not everything works for me, as “Charlotte” is a bit to intense for intensity’s sake; “Ron” is just to strange of an opening track; “Rhoda” ends on a confusing note that just spans feedback loops. The term “Math Rock” is often used to describe Slint, but in reality these players just have a very practiced feel, like they live these songs and love this music because its theirs and no one else. It truly feels like something exciting is being born on these mostly instrumental songs. It is not an album to be enjoyed in a traditional sense, it is something to be analyzed and figured out on your own like a mathematical equation or some long division.

Best Songs: Carol, Darleen, Nan Ding

1991

Spiderland - 98%

When the word ‘unique’ is often overused but if there was ever one album that fit the bill in the entire history of rock music, it is Slint’s Spiderland. The second album by the group, it takes the concept of catchy riffs and turns the idea inside out to make melodies that are whispered or screamed, soft or very loud, extreme in both ways. There are six songs, but every single one is multi layered with ideas and unique takes on what it means to make music. The interesting relationship between the singer Brian McMahan, the aching guitar lines by David Pajo, the minimalistic style of Britt Walford and bass player Todd Brashear that always keeps it going.

            The first part of what make these songs are the way they are the dynamics. The verses tend to be rather hushed and the choruses loud, like on the opening tune “Breadcrumb Trail”, making its marks on us with every guitar squeal and every abrupt tempo shift. The ending of closer “Good Morning Captain” is perhaps the most extreme emotional charge in rock music, with singer McMahan wailing “I miss you!!” after a story about a lost family relationship. The song is over seven minutes long and all the better for it, each verse builds upon each one before and gets longer and more complicated, haunting guitar wrapping its web around the achingly recited lyrics. At other times the songs are simply soft and softer, as “Washer” is fairly a ten minute journey of instrumentals versus lyrics and the two never actually collide. At the end the singer sounding like he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which singer McMahan might have echoed in real life after as after this album he committed himself to an institution for a while.

Another part that makes the album special is the way the music is played. Not only is does it make you try and feel the emotions of the singer which are at times truly heartbreaking (see the moody, shifting “Washer” and “Good Morning Captain” as these highest peaks), and songs like “Don Amon” dispute the meaningfulness of lyrics anyways as the albums most challenging track upon first listen, it actually grows on you after each tempo-shifting verse that is uttered. Noises or riffs by guitars often define the mood of the music too as “Nosferatu Man” gives the rock n roll world one of its truly haunting guitar lines and one of the most effecting choruses. The bridge of this song has a repeating chord chug that breaks with a single drum stick click that is one of my favorite moments on any record.

The unique timbers and dynamic would alone make Spiderland an endearing album, but the way these 6 songs all feed off of each other and have their own blessed peaks and valleys of intertwining connections make this a perfect album to endlessly dissect. More so than any other album that came out in 1991 and there were many gamechangers, Slint’s album stand the test of time as the most influential “new sound” and emotional journey all these years later. A singular achievement.

Best Songs: Good Morning Captain, Nosferatu Man, Washer, Don Aman