6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

Slint
Slint was an American rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar
Slint
and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums and vocals), Todd
Brashear (bass on Spiderland), and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). They
formed in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, in 1986. Slint's first album
Tweez was recorded by engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in
obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989. It was followed
two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland, released on the
independent label Touch and Go Records.

They have reunited sporadically since 1990.[6]

Contents
History
Pre-Slint
Founding
Slint at Pitchfork Music Festival on
Tweez and singles
July 13, 2007
Spiderland and dissolution
Post-Slint Background information
Reunions Origin Louisville,
Members Kentucky, United
Official States
Reunions
Genres Post-rock[1] ·
Discography
math rock[2] ·
Studio albums
post-hardcore[3]
References
Years active 1986–1990,[1]
External links
1992,[4] 1994,[5]
2005, 2007,
2013–2014
History
Labels Touch and Go
Associated acts Tortoise · Papa
Pre-Slint M · Solution
Walford and McMahan met in their pre-teens and attended the Brown Unknown ·
School, a Louisville public school founded on a pedagogy of self-directed Squirrel Bait ·
learning.[7] They began performing music together at an early age, forming The For
the Languid and Flaccid with Ned Oldham (later of The Anomoanoan) Carnation ·
while still in middle school.[8][9][10] In their teens Walford and McMahan Maurice · Bush
played together in the seminal Louisville punk band Squirrel Bait. Walford League · Dead
left the band following their first recording session while McMahan went Child · Palace
on to tour and record Squirrel Bait's two albums before the band's Brothers · Bastro
dissolution in 1987.[11] · Evergreen ·
King Kong ·
Crain · The
Glasspack ·
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 1/6
6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

Pajo and Walford (and, briefly, McMahan) were in the punk/prog-metal Shipping News ·
band Maurice with future members of Kinghorse. After being influenced by Parlour · Watter
the music of the Minutemen, Pajo and Walford's musical direction became
Members Brian McMahan
too obtuse for the other members of Maurice, who parted ways. Maurice's
David Pajo
later material would form the basis of some of Slint's early
Britt Walford
compositions.[12]
Ethan Buckler
Todd Brashear
Founding
Slint formed in the summer of 1986.[13] Walford and Pajo were joined by the slightly older Buckler (age 18 at the time)
for a show for a Unitarian Universalist congregation on November 2; performing under the name Small Tight Dirty
Tufts of Hair, most of the congregation left during the band's first two songs.[14] They were soon joined by McMahan
and named themselves Slint after one of Walford's pet fish.[12]

Tweez and singles

Slint's first album Tweez was recorded in the fall of 1987 by Steve Albini, whom the band had chosen because they
were fans of Albini's recently defunct group Big Black. Though Slint's members had composed the album's music
during rehearsals in Walford's parents' basement, most of the lyrics were created in-studio, and included between-
song sound effects and ad-libbed conversations with Albini.[12] During mixdown, Walford requested that Albini "make
the bass drum sound like a ham being slapped by a catcher's mitt," and then spilled a cup of tea on Albini's mixing
board.[15] Without formal song titles, eight of the album's tracks were named for the band members' parents, and a
ninth for Walford's dog, Rhoda. Once completed, Buckler was dissatisfied with the recordings and left Slint to form the
group King Kong, initially made up of all of Slint's members taking up different instruments. All of Slint's original
members recorded the single "Movie Star" as King Kong in Steve Albini's studio while he was away on a trip in
1989.[16]

Buckler was soon replaced by bass player Todd Brashear. Slint had hoped that Touch and Go Records would release
Tweez, but the band did not hear back from the label.[12] A friend of the group, Jennifer Hartman, paid for the album's
release for a tiny run on the imprint Jennifer Hartman Records in 1989.[17] By then the group had returned to the
studio with Albini to record two instrumental tracks. Original copies of Tweez included a flyer advertising a 12" single
of these songs to be released on Jennifer Hartman. But by now the band had succeeded in catching the ear of Touch &
Go Records's founder Corey Rusk who agreed to release the group's next album. The master tapes to the proposed 12"
were then shelved, making Tweez the sole release on the Jennifer Hartman label.[12]

Spiderland and dissolution

By the time Tweez was released, most of the group had gone off to college and would return to Louisville during breaks
to write and practice new material. Returning to the Walfords' basement, the group would spend hours repeating the
same guitar riff and then adding in layers of nuance on top of it.[15] After rehearsals, McMahan took practice tapes
home and worked on vocals with the use of a 4-track tape recorder. Sitting in his parents' car made it possible to
record softly spoken vocals over the band's loud music.[12] After developing these new songs, Slint's members wanted
a cleaner sound than that of their first LP, and approached Minneapolis producer Brian Paulson who had recorded two
albums with McMahan's former bandmates' group Bastro.[12] On a trip to visit Bastro and Paulson during the
recording sessions for their final studio album, Sing the Troubled Beast, McMahan was in a near-fatal car accident.
While in the ambulance, a paramedic called in "Code 138" and the immobilized McMahan regained consciousness
singing the Misfits song "We are 138."[12] McMahan's brush with death left the young musician feeling depressed, a
condition that would affect the recording and aftermath of Slint's next album.[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 2/6
6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

Paulson and Slint met over a weekend to record Spiderland in Chicago. All of the music was recorded live, with vocals
overdubbed afterward in no more than two takes and with little to no rehearsal on the part of McMahan.[15] The group
used two different microphones to record vocals: one for softer, spoken voices, and one for louder, sung voices. During
mixdown, Paulson and the group would try adding different effects, but all these were rejected, resulting in a very
pared-down production sound.[12] The day after Spiderland's recording session ended, McMahan checked himself into
a mental hospital where he was diagnosed with depression, and subsequently left the band.[15]

Longtime friend of the band Will Oldham took numerous photos of the group as potential album covers. Some of these
were taken in a nearby quarry and one was chosen with Slint's four member's heads bobbing above the surface of the
water.[18] Touch and Go released Spiderland in 1991.[19] [20] The album was unlike anything else that the label had
released to date. Slint was to have gone on a European tour after its release, but with the band no longer together,
there were no tours, interviews, photo or video shoots to promote the album.[12] Despite this, the album's repute grew
and it continued to sell several thousand copies annually in the years following its release, a considerable feat for an
indie record by a defunct group and a mystique around the record, and the artists who made it, began to grow.[12]

Spiderland is considered a seminal work,[21] characterized by dark, syncopated rhythms, sparse guitar lines and
haunting subject matter. The record's impact was such that many fans and critics have suggested it is the first true
post-rock album,[18] helping to usher in a new wave of bands seeking a move away from the unfettered aggression of
hardcore punk but not its underlying ethic.

Post-Slint
The band briefly reformed in 1992, and again in 1994. During this time, Touch and Go Records reissued Tweez in
1993, and In 1994 an untitled 10" EP of the two songs from the shelved tapes recorded between their two albums—one
a reinterpretation of "Rhoda" from Tweez, and the other a track called "Glenn".

Members of Slint have since appeared in a number of bands. In 2009, former guitarist David Pajo performed with
Yeah Yeah Yeahs as a live back-up musician. He briefly played in Stereolab, took up bass in Interpol, and performs
under the moniker PAJO and occasionally with his band Papa M, also known as Ariel M, or just M.[22] Pajo has also
been a member of Dead Child, Tortoise, Palace, The For Carnation, and the short-lived Billy Corgan-fronted rock band
Zwan. Guitarist Brian McMahan formed The For Carnation in 1994 and also played with Will Oldham in Palace. Britt
Walford played drums in Evergreen, and for The Breeders under the pseudonym Shannon Doughton on the album
Pod, and as Mike Hunt on the Safari EP. Ethan Buckler has released several albums with his group King Kong
featuring an ever-shifting cast of members who have occasionally included David Pajo.[12]

Reunions
Nearly fifteen years after originally disbanding, three members of Slint—Brian McMahan, David Pajo, and Britt
Walford—reunited to curate the 2005 All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) music festival in Camber Sands, England. Also in
2005, Slint played a number of shows in the U.S. and in Europe.[23] Though they insisted the reunion was short-term,
the band regrouped once again in 2007 to perform Spiderland in its entirety in Barcelona as part of the Primavera
Sound Festival, in London as part of the ATP Don't Look Back series of shows, as well as at a handful of dates in
Europe, the U.S. (at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival, the Showbox in Seattle, and the Henry Fonda Theatre in
Hollywood), and Canada. In addition to performing the album and the EP Slint, they also debuted a new composition
called "King's Approach",[24][25] which remains unrecorded.

In a September 2012 interview conducted with Northern Irish music publication AU Magazine, David Pajo hinted at
more activity from the band in the coming months: "We still communicate regularly and we've got some surprises for
next year that fans will be excited about. I know I am."[26]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 3/6
6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

The band reunited in December 2013 to play as one of the headliners of the final All Tomorrow's Parties holiday camp
festival in Camber Sands, England.[27]

In an August 2013 interview with Vish Khanna, former producer Steve Albini revealed that the band was working on
remastering their second album Spiderland with producer Bob Weston.[28] The deluxe Spiderland boxset was
announced in January 2014.[29] In 2014 Touch and Go released several live, demo, and practice sessions of songs
recorded by the band between 1989 and 1990.[30] These appeared as the LP Bonus Tracks, as well as in box set
editions of Spiderland alongside the DVD Breadcrumb Trail, filmmaker Lance Bangs' 90-minute documentary about
the band shot over the course of 12 years.[31] In 2014, the band also performed at the Primavera Sound music festival
in Spain and Portugal and Green Man Festival in Wales.

Members

Official
Brian McMahan – guitar, vocals (1986–1990, 1992, 1994, reunions)
David Pajo – guitar (1986–1990, 1992, 1994, reunions)
Britt Walford – drums, guitar, vocals (1986–1990, 1992, 1994, reunions)
Ethan Buckler – bass (1986–1987)
Todd Brashear – bass (1988–1990, 1992)
Tim Ruth – bass (1994)[5]

Reunions
Michael McMahan – guitar (2005, 2007, 2013–2014)
Todd Cook – bass (2005, 2007)
Matt Jencik – bass (2007, 2013–2014)

Discography

Studio albums
Tweez (1989)
Spiderland (1991)

References
1. Ankeny, Jason. "Slint" (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/slint-mn0000751604/biography). AllMusic. Retrieved
2013-02-19.
2. Weingarten, Christopher R. (November 2002). "Isis - Oceanic review". CMJ (107): 61.
3. Carew, Anthony. "Review of the Definitive Alternative Album Spiderland" (http://altmusic.about.com/od/1990s/fr/sli
nt.htm). About.com. Retrieved 1 November 2010. "[...] But, the second album by the post-hardcore Kentuckians
sure didn't 'kick' anything; its influence rather devoid of immediacy. [...]"
4. Cooke, Robert. " "I'm trying to find my way home":DiS meets Slint (Part Two)" (http://drownedinsound.com/in_dept
h/4147507-i-m-trying-to-find-my-way-home---dis-meets-slint-part-two). Drowned in Sound. Drowned in Sound.
Retrieved 3 November 2016.
5. Tennent, Scott. "Spiderland." Slint's Spiderland (33 1/3). N.p.: Bloomberg, n.d. 113. Print. 33 1/3.
6. Murray, Robin (July 23, 2013). "Slint To Reform!" (http://www.clashmusic.com/news/slint-to-reform). Clash.
Retrieved July 23, 2013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 4/6
6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

7. "About - J. Graham Brown School" (http://www.mybrownschool.org/about). www.mybrownschool.org. Retrieved

7 January 2017.
8. "SOMETHING LIKE AN ANOMOANON – Is Something Like Will Oldham – Vice Magazine" (https://www.webcitati
on.org/6AjhJluuT?url=http://www.vice.com/read/something-v10n5). Viceland.com. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.viceland.com/int/v10n5/htdocs/something.php) on 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
9. "PopMatters Music Feature | Louisville Born, Brooklyn Based" (http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/06031
0-davidgrubbs.shtml). Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
10. "back" (http://louisvillepunk.awardspace.com/Photos/LanguidFlaccid00.html). Louisvillepunk.awardspace.com.
Retrieved 2010-11-20.
11. "Maurice – Louisville Punk/Hardcore History" (http://history.louisvillehardcore.com/index.php?title=Maurice).
History.louisvillehardcore.com. 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
12. Bangs, Lance (2014). Breadcrumb Trail (Film)|format= requires |url= (help). Chicago: Touch and Go.
13. "Images for Slint - Tweez" (https://www.discogs.com/release/439361-Tweez/images). www.discogs.com.
Retrieved 16 April 2018.
14. "Invisible Histories: Slint (Part 2)" (https://www.webcitation.org/6AjhOtA1a?url=http://mog.com/jsguntzel/blog/2104
6). Mog.com. Archived from the original (http://mog.com/jsguntzel/blog/21046) on 2012-09-17. Retrieved
2010-11-20.
15. Simpson, Dave (1 May 2014). "Spiderland by Slint: the album that reinvented rock" (https://www.theguardian.com/
music/2014/may/01/spiderland-slint-album-reinvented-rock). The Guardian.
16. "King Kong - "Me Hungry" " (http://www.dragcity.com/products/me-hungry). www.dragcity.com. Drag City.
Retrieved 7 January 2017.
17. Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 893–894. ISBN 1-
84195-017-3.
18. "Slint and Will Oldham discuss that famous 'Spiderland' album cover" (http://dangerousminds.net/comments/slint_
and_will_oldham). DangerousMinds. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
19. "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" (http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-19
90s/9/). Pitchfork. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
20. Parker, Chris (2005-02-09). "Brian Paulson: Studio aethetics" (http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oi
d%3A23657). The Independent Weekly.
21. Riggs, Richard (2009-02-17). "Slowcore Week: Slint and Codeine – a shared musical language? / In Depth //
Drowned In Sound" (http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136138). Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved
2010-11-20.
22. Ratliff, Ben (2010-09-05). "Iggy and the Stooges at All Tomorrow's Parties" (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/
arts/music/06all.html?scp=3&sq=Jarmusch&st=cse). The New York Times.
23. "Slint reunion 2005" (http://www.descendo.com/slint/). Descendo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
24. "News | Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records" (http://www.touchandgorecords.com/news/detail.php?id=238).
Touchandgorecords.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
25. zlayed (2011-05-04), Slint - King's approach (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCM5cvDAU6M), retrieved
2018-10-27
26. "David Pajo" (http://iheartau.com/2012/09/david-pajo/). iheartau.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
27. "End Of An Era Part 2 curated by ATP & Loop - All Tomorrow's Parties" (http://www.atpfestival.com/events/endofa
nerapart2.php). Atpfestival.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
28. "Ep. #24: Steve Albini | Kreative Kontrol" (http://vishkhanna.com/2013/08/16/ep-24-steve-albini/).
Vishkhanna.com. 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
29. "Slint's Spiderland Gets Deluxe Box Set Reissue" (http://pitchfork.com/news/53769-slints-spiderland-gets-deluxe-
box-set-reissue/). Pitchfork. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
30. "Slint - Spiderland" (https://www.discogs.com/Slint-Spiderland/release/5584658). Discogs. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
31. Nixon, Dan (March 24, 2014). "Some Fucking Stars: Slint Documentary Breadcrumb Trail Reviewed" (http://thequi
etus.com/articles/14798-slint-breadcrumb-trail-review). The Quietus. Retrieved 7 January 2017.

External links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 5/6
6/19/2019 Slint - Wikipedia

Official website (http://slintmusic.com/)

Slint Touch and Go records band page (http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/band.php?id=70)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slint&oldid=885273526"

This page was last edited on 27 February 2019, at 01:07 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slint 6/6