Slint was a seminal American, Louisville, KY, band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. They recorded only two albums, both excellent: 1989′s “Tweez” produced by legendary Steve Albini and what’s by most considered their masterpiece, 1991′s “Spiderland” of which the cover is a photo of the band took by Will Oldham. Half of its members came from Squirrel Bait, a very important and original band from mid 80′s that helped to shape what became known as post-hardcore. Squirrel Bait had an even briefer existence mainly because they were all teenagers at high school at the time and just couldn’t deal with a professional music career with a tour at that age. Then when they got to college, part of them formed Slint.
Much of the music that was and is made after Slint are indebted to them. Some say they created what’s known as post-rock. I don’t care about these kind of labels, but I can say that much of their music echoes in so many bands with so many different styles and it’s sad that even if they are somewhat recognized they are not as huge as they should be.
As I said, they recorded only two albums, the first has nine songs, the second only six. After that, there is a posthumous EP, 1994′s “Slint”, with two instrumental songs. One that previously appeared on a different version of Tweez was released although its songs were actually recorded in 1989 and were meant to be released the same year as the 12”. And that’s it, a bit more of one hour of music in seventeen songs. Revolutions are fast.
In 2005 3/4 of Slint reunited to curate that year’s edition of ATP Festival. Following that they played together for the first time in almost 15 years with dates in Europe and the US. Needless to say that these concerts generated loads of bootlegs.
And during this summer they are playing again with scheduled dates in Europe and the US. Also, even with a new song and their tour, they don’t confirm, nor deny a real comeback, only some summer fun. Theirs and ours.