slint -- _spiderland_: classic or dud

It's hard to describe how exciting it was when they started playing shows in 86/87: the Louisville scene was in full flower, but it was hardcore hardcore, hardcore… the Misfits 100% ran that town, and when I heard that two guys from Maurice, one from Squirrel bait and one from Dot 39 (not well known anymore) of course you'd think it was gonna be the most merciless metal-punk to have ever existed… and then they play the Tweez shit at shows and the hardcore kids, despite individual claims to the contrary in decades later, were either bored or bewildered… myself and like five other kids, including a former ILX leading light, on the other hand were absolutely dumbstruck, in awe of what was unfolding (yeah, yeah I'm tooting my own horn here)…

and so then the Tweez shit in particular earns the Trout mask comparison…it is very very hard, maybe impossible to discern what stylistic templates they may have used… the only thing is that Pajo was well known as a technically accomplished player a shredder in fact… and it was clear to me that Walford was unlike any drummer to have ever walked the earth… by dint of the truly extraordinary preternatural, native ability of those two guys, they made music that has almost nothing to do with any previous shit ever… I would only say that Tweez is Pajo's, Spiderland is McMahon's, but its all Walford's. Spiderland more or less came to me like everyone else, although I they did a show in lville in 1990 where they played that material beofre the record was released (or possibly recorded).

said this before, but I was pants-shittingly intimidated by those guys, and when I encountered Walford in the 90s, each time among mutual friends he did not exactly have the interest or ability to set people at ease.

"and so then the Tweez shit in particular earns the Trout mask comparison…it is very very hard, maybe impossible to discern what stylistic templates they may have used"

Only say that bcz in both cases the band spent what seems like an enormous amount of time rehearsing before they got into the studio to record.

Trout Mask was a live album, only engineered (despite the produced by Frank Zappa). Similarly Spiderland was only engineered and as Paulson talked about there wasn't a lot of he needed to do.

t's hard to describe how exciting it was when they started playing shows in 86/87: the Louisville scene was in full flower, but it was hardcore hardcore, hardcore… the Misfits 100% ran that town, and when I heard that two guys from Maurice, one from Squirrel bait and one from Dot 39 (not well known anymore) of course you'd think it was gonna be the most merciless metal-punk to have ever existed… and then they play the Tweez shit at shows and the hardcore kids, despite individual claims to the contrary in decades later, were either bored or bewildered… myself and like five other kids, including a former ILX leading light, on the other hand were absolutely dumbstruck, in awe of what was unfolding (yeah, yeah I'm tooting my own horn here)…

When I wrote my 33 1/3 book about Spiderland, I really loved hearing Sean Garrison (aka Rat)'s perspective on those early days. Veronica I'm sure you already know this, but for everyone else on the board if the name's not recognizable - he was the singer for Maurice which was very much a metal band. He described to me this kind of slow-motion bewilderment/awe at what Pajo and Walford were doing. The last song Maurice wrote was a Slint song (I can't remember without looking it up but I think it was "Pat"), and Rat basically gave up - he couldn't figure out how to sing over the music they were making.

and so then the Tweez shit in particular earns the Trout mask comparison…it is very very hard, maybe impossible to discern what stylistic templates they may have used… the only thing is that Pajo was well known as a technically accomplished player a shredder in fact… and it was clear to me that Walford was unlike any drummer to have ever walked the earth… by dint of the truly extraordinary preternatural, native ability of those two guys, they made music that has almost nothing to do with any previous shit ever… I would only say that Tweez is Pajo's, Spiderland is McMahon's, but its all Walford's. Spiderland more or less came to me like everyone else, although I they did a show in lville in 1990 where they played that material beofre the record was released (or possibly recorded).

Agree, Tweez is Pajo/Walford, Spiderland is McMahon/Walford. Also, Tweez is high school and Spiderland is college--which feels very obvious in the lyrics if not the music itself. McMahon and Walford wrote a good chunk of the album while living in dorms at Northwestern, away from Pajo and Brashear. (The other two had influence on the songwriting too but not to the same degree.)

Thanks for your 33 1/3 book, I devoured that when I was 17. And great write up too Veronica

Thanks HP, I appreciate that.

awesome posts veronica and pgwp

So should I listen to this band for the first time

um yes

No save it till your in you’re 80’s, consuming all music post1960’s in existence beforehand so that you can properly appreciate britt’s drumming on good morning captain (all the talk of the documentary pales in comparison to the shots of a 16yo looking Britt playing the track in a crusty basement)

So very very glad David Pajo is still around and working after his sadly public suicide attempt. I couldn’t believe that Slint was where he started knowing him from Tortoise and Papa M first. What a career, spiderland to millions now living to Royal trux to zwan, while playing live with interpol, the yeah yeah yeahs and now hang of four. Is there any career in rock music that mirrors the broad + influential + not super well known (from my impression) he has?

Jim O'Rourke maybe? Pajo's Zwan bandmate Matt Sweeney is also kinda a rough analogue

This thread has been a great read, thanks all. And I have to read your 33 1/3 book, pgwp.

Thanks so much for the posts, yes. Veronica was so lucky to see them at that time. And for the impression to linger after all these years. We all hope to catch art at the highest levels while it's on the make and people aren't quite sure. People usually get to it when you are already told it's good by some.

"So very very glad David Pajo is still around and working after his sadly public suicide attempt."

Very sad about it when I saw this on his wiki yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7wh270Oc9c

yeah so I finally did it, what do you guys think?

https://i.imgur.com/Yh3rMqR.jpg

shouldn't have gone with comic sans

33 years old! Ashamed to say I've never heard the remaster... until today, I will report back what new things I hear.

My book came out just ahead of its 20th anniversary. Wow.

I couldn't tell you when I bought it or why, I don't recall really ever listening to it, it just seemed like it was always there, I was never as deeply obsessed with it as some people I knew were, like I can never remember what the names of the songs are, I was kind of bored with it by the early aughts when it was touch point for like everything, then the reunion...

But there are times, like this morning when I listen to it and it's like meeting with an younger version of myself, I know everything about it and am instantly transported to my parent's basement or my first apartment or this shitty car I had, the clothes, the smells, the sensations, the details are all right there encoded in the music.

What a weird ass record.

Good post. Similar for me. Those intro guitar harmonics take me right back to the bedroom I first heard it. I can remember my state of confusion first hearing the abrasive guitar in Nosferatu Man. Really an album that captures people, holds them where they are. A drumming student of mine, completely obsessed with hip-hop and funk, couldn't get him to care about any other music no matter how hard I tried, became obsessed with this album of all albums (I mean the drumming is pretty incredible), and I could see it hit his 16yo brain the same way it hit my brain at 16yo. Sorta one of those undeniable works that transcends taste and preference if it is given a listening ear.

Also everyone should read pgwp's book. It is the best.

Aw thanks HP!