Slint

Slint () was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986 after the dissolution of two local bands, Squirrel Bait and Maurice. It initially consisted of Brian McMahan (guitars, vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums, vocals), and Ethan Buckler (bass). Though little known during their original run, they gained a cult following and acclaim as one of the pioneers of post-rock and math rock.

Slint's debut album, Tweez, was recorded by Steve Albini and released in 1989 on their record label, Jennifer Hartman Records and Tapes. Buckler left out of dissatisfaction with Tweez and was replaced by Todd Brashear. In 1991, Slint released their second album, Spiderland, on the independent label Touch and Go Records. They broke up prior to its release. Spiderland eventually became one of the most acclaimed indie rock albums of the 1990s.

After Slint broke up, Touch and Go records released an untitled EP recorded between their albums. After sporadic reunions, Slint disbanded again in 2014.

History

Pre-Slint

Walford and McMahan met in their pre-teens and attended the Brown School, a Louisville public school founded on a pedagogy of self-directed learning. They began performing music together at an early age, forming the Languid and Flaccid with Ned Oldham (later of The Anomoanon) while still in middle school. In their teens Walford and McMahan played together in the seminal Louisville punk band Squirrel Bait. Walford left the band following their first recording session while McMahan went on to tour and record Squirrel Bait's two albums before the band's dissolution in 1987.

Pajo and Walford (and, briefly, McMahan) were in the punk/prog-metal band Maurice with future members of Kinghorse. After being influenced by the music of the Minutemen, Pajo and Walford's musical direction became too obtuse for the other members of Maurice, who parted ways. Maurice's later material would form the basis of some of Slint's early compositions.

1986–1989: Founding, Recording of Tweez, and Ethan Buckler's departure

Slint formed in the summer of 1986. 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. They were soon joined by McMahan and named themselves Slint after one of Walford's pet fish.

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. 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. 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.

1988–1990: Todd Brashear joins, release of Tweez

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. 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. 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.