TWEEZ

There really isn’t much of a valid argument for lumping Slint in with any subgenre of progressive music as far as I’m concerned. These guys were a disjointed blend of post-punk, garage band and primal grunge at a time when none of those sounds would have been considered very palatable by most music fans.

Don’t get me wrong - ‘Spiderland’ was a great musical experience and I have no doubt it was an influence on post-rock pioneers like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and probably even Efrim Menuck. Maybe it even was, as so many have claimed, the first post-rock album (although Bark Psychosis’s ‘Hex’ would get my vote for that label).

But in any case this debut album from the band does not factor into any discussion about post-rock and Slint’s influence on it. This is nothing more than a handful of undeveloped, poorly produced and scruffy half-assed recordings by some very young and not very talented Kentucky musicians a couple years before they would finally get their act together. And it’s really an EP, not an album. Other than “Kent” which shows some recognition by the band that drone and feedback can be used to sculpture and song, there is nothing here that remotely resembles what they would release next. The minimalist alternately reminds me of the eighties German band Trio, Dead Kennedys, and the Dead Milkmen. It’s just hard to take seriously.

If you are a completionist and a Slint fan your task is a pretty simple one since they only have two albums. But in reality you’d only be buying this one to be able to say you have everything the band recorded, and that’s not a very good reason to spend money you worked hard for. ‘Spiderland’ is worth hearing, but this one isn’t. One star and not recommended.

peace