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Dec 17, 2024 Web Exclusive By Ian King

Louisville legends Slint left behind an outsized legacy established on a mere two albums, not counting the EP released long after they split. The first, Tweez, became a time capsule, and the second, Spiderland, became a timeless classic. The thing about time capsules, though, is that their inherent value increases over time.

Spiderland has its unhinged moments, but Tweez is nearly a half hour of barely controlled chaos. The preternaturally talented quartet of guitarist David Pajo, guitarist/vocalist Brian McMahan, drummer Britt Walford, and bassist Ethan Buckler—who along with mixing engineer Anne Gauthier helmed the Tweethan Mix remix that serves as the second half of this two-disc reissue—were yet to sound wise and weary beyond their years. Instead, they storm through their nascent repertoire with wild abandon and flashes of spontaneous virtuosity, cramming in every sharp turn and jagged rhythm they can conceive of.

Teenagers that they were at the time, Slint were beholden only to their own inscrutable insider logic. The songs were named after their parents and Walford’s dog, a decision seemingly revealed to have little meaning given that all except “Rhoda” (named for the dog) have been retitled on the Tweethan Mix. “Ron” notoriously opens the album with a plea to engineer Steve Albini to provide a new pair of headphones, then lunges into a heavy groove shouting about the sun and moon, and every word counts no matter the context. There is no definite line between studio banter and premeditated lyrics about mysterious places “past where they paint the houses.”

Tweez has an unfiltered sense of taste, building on hardcore punk with sensibilities ranging from heavy metal, to then-burgeoning alternative rock, to a mindset all their own. On the one hand it’s a firmly time-stamped document of a singular band taking shape, but on the other hand, aside from a few certain guitar effects that now read as outdated, very little of it sounds like 1989. (www.slint.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 8/10