Line #29 Music/Slint


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2019866_4135.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Slint [[{{Fanservice}} being sexy]].]]
3
4	->''"Here is the typical way a new fan of Slint experiences the band. First you buy ''Music/{{Spiderland}}'', because that's the album everyone talks about. And you are blown away by it and vow to purchase everything anyone associated with this band has ever done. So you naturally go to ''Tweez'' next. It's ''not Slint'' - not ''your'' Slint. You buy Music/TheBreeders' first album, ''Pod'', because Slint's drummer plays on the record. It's good, but it's ''not Slint''. Meanwhile you've picked up a For Carnation album (ex-Slint!), Tortoise's ''Millions Now Living Will Never Die'' (ex-Slint!), and maybe one or two Papa M discs (ex-Slint!) - maybe you even tracked down that Evergreen album (ex-Slint!). They're ''not Slint.''"''
5	-->-- '''Scott Tennant'''
6
7	'''Slint''' is an American AlternativeRock band from Louisville, Kentucky, usually given credit for jump-starting the PostRock genre along with Music/TalkTalk, as well as the MathRock genre. The band formed in 1986 from the ashes of HardcorePunk group Squirrel Bait, with Brian [=McMahan=] (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), and Britt Walford (drums) staying strong throughout the band's existence. Ethan Buckler, the band's original bassist, would later be replaced with Todd Brashear.
8
9	They released their first album, ''Tweez'' to lukewarm reviews in 1989. Then, in 1991, they found their style and released their landmark album, ''Music/{{Spiderland}}'', which came on the heels of a year of landmark albums along with {{Music/Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind\|Album}}'' for {{Grunge}}, Music/MyBloodyValentine's ''Music/{{Loveless}}'' for {{Shoegazing}}, and so on, and became very influential to PostRock alongside Music/TalkTalk's ''Music/LaughingStock''.
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11	After the album the entire band went through a CreatorBreakdown. It is rumored that the brooding sound of ''Spiderland'' combined with pressure from the record company caused two of the members to be institutionalized during recording. What makes this especially creepy is the fact that all the band members were in stable mental condition prior to the recording. Nevertheless, this stress affected the band and they disbanded shortly after its release. Pajo went on to join Tortoise and Zwan for a while after that, and Walford was briefly a member of Music/TheBreeders.
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13	They've had three reunions. The first was in 2005 and the second in 2007; the only new material was the song "King's Approach", which performed during their 2007 shows. A third reunion began in 2013, and the band has hinted at the possibility of new material. ''Spiderland'' has been reissued with two bonus discs.
14	----
15
16	!!Discography:
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18	* ''Tweez'' (1989)
19	* ''Music/{{Spiderland}}'' (1991)
20	* Untitled EP (1994)
21	----
22
23	!!Slint contains examples of the following tropes:
24
25	* AllLowercaseLetters: The liner notes of ''Spiderland''.
26	* BrownNote: ''Spiderland'' was this for the band.
27	* BuffySpeak: In the lyrics for "Breadcrumb Trail" - "I pulled back the drape thing on the tent..."
28	* CallBack: The raging guitars toward the middle of "Good Morning, Captain" echo the guitar part of the chorus of "Breadcrumb Trail."
29	* CarefulWithThatAxe: The ending of "Good Morning, Captain" and the chorus of "Nosferatu Man."
30	* ChildProdigy: Britt and Brian were good enough at the age of 11 to open for Music/MinorThreat.
31	* ChildhoodFriends: Britt and Brian first met in elementary school.
32	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Britt, as ''[[{{Rockumentary}} Breadcrumb Trail]]'' memorably demonstrated.
33	* CreepyMonotone: The band's usual vocal style. [[CarefulWithThatAxe Other times...]]
34	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Spiderland''.
35	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The band's releases have black-and-white cover photos, all of which are creepy to varying degrees.
36	** ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slint_tweez_saab_cover.jpg Tweez]]'' uses an image of a car with the band name and album title superimposed on the grille, making this the only Slint cover with text of any kind. It's relatively innocuous except for the spooky bare trees in the background.
37	** ''Spiderland'' features the famous TeamShot of the band treading water in an abandoned quarry, staring at the camera with unsettling [[TheUnsmile un-smiles]].
38	** The untitled EP pulls out all the stops, as its cover depicts [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slint_ep.jpg the aftermath of a shooting]]. The overhead photo shows a man's corpse with a bloody stomach wound, his eyes [[DiesWideOpen open and staring]]. The pistol that presumably killed him lays on the ground near his body. Two shadowy figures, an adult and a child, observe the scene.
39	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Tweez'' is a short, nearly improvisational album filled with instrumentals and studio chatter, and displaying a more straightforward NoiseRock sound than what the band would become famous for.
40	* EpicRocking: "Glenn" (6:17), the EP version of "Rhoda" (6:53), "Washer" (8:50), and "Good Morning, Captain" (7:39).
41	** "Don, Aman" (6:28) seems like it fits the trope on paper, but the track is actually just vocals and guitar.
42	** "King's Approach" (mentioned above, currently not yet released) is generally slightly over ten minutes long in live performances.
43	* GainaxEnding: ''Spiderland''. What exactly is happening at the end of "Good Morning, Captain"?
44	* GenreBusting: Even for post-rock, as they played it when it had been an UnbuiltTrope.
45	* AGoodNameForARockBand: "Slint" was the name of one of Britt Walford's fish. Where he got the name from is anyone's guess.
46	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: They named nearly all of the songs on ''Tweez'' after their parents. "Rhoda" is the one exception, as it was named after Britt Walford's dog. The sides, meanwhile, are named "Bemis" and "Gerber".
47	* ILoveTheDead: "Nosferatu Man." [[MindScrew Maybe.]]
48	* {{Interquel}}: The Untitled EP was made of two songs that were recorded in 1989, two years after ''Tweez'' was recorded. It was released in 1994, years after the band had broken up, and is a good insight into Slint's musical evolution from ''Tweez'' to ''Spiderland''.
49	* LyricalColdOpen: 'Don, Aman': "Don stepped outside"
50	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Spiderland''.
51	* NonAppearingTitle: Almost none of their songs feature song titles in the lyrics. "Washer" being the lone exception.
52	* PerishingAltRockVoice: So perishing Brian didn't so much sing as mumble spoken-word narration most of the time, and fell ill due to the strain of yelling the climax of "Good Morning, Captain".
53	* {{Rockumentary}}: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRpS6XGiOs Breadcrumb Trail]]'', which is the source for much of the information on this page.
54	* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Despite the music featured on ''Spiderland'', the band members were a bunch of 21-year-old goofballs who stuck [[https://tinyurl.com/y4j6zrs2 a bunch]] [[https://www.instagram.com/p/7bmL9pk_gzYrHFJ2iRZMeVTYfXRVtQ5GK45VE0/ of signs]] at the back of their van, played a gig at a local church, [[{{Troll}} deliberately took an hour to set up at a high school talent show]], and made an "[[ToiletHumor Anal Breathing]]" tape.
55	* ShroudedInMyth: Due to the band's semi-reclusive nature, creepy sound, and reputation as ShortLivedBigImpact, ''Spiderland'' sounds all the more mysterious.
56	* SpokenWordInMusic: Like narration drawn out as the music gets darker with the narration? You're in luck.
57	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: "Don, Aman" has vocals and guitar by their drummer Britt Walford.
58	* StudioChatter: ''Tweez'' has more studio chatter than actual singing.
59	* TakeThat: The CD editions of the band's two albums feature disclaimers stating that "this recording is meant to be listened to on vinyl," highlighting the band's contempt for digital audio.
60	* TeamShot: The iconic album cover of ''Spiderland''.
61	* TropeMaker: Of PostRock (along with Music/TalkTalk) and MathRock.
62	* UncommonTime: They are also labeled "Math Rock" for a reason. You might need diagrams to keep track of all their time signature changes.
63	** "Nosferatu Man" starts in 6/4, then 5/4, then 3/4, then 5/4, then 3/4, then swapping between 12/8 and 15/8, then 9/8, then 10/4, then 12/8, then changing between 18/8 and 12/8, before ending in 21/8.
64	** "Breadcrumb Trail" is in 7/4, then 4/4, then 7/4 again, then 4/4 again, and then alternates between 12/8 and 15/8 during the distorted parts, then 4/4 again, then 10/4, then 4/4, then 12/8 for one last time before heading back into the original 7/4-4/4-7/4 segment again.
65	* TheUnSmile: ''Spiderland''[='=]s [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Slint_-_Spiderland.jpg iconically creepy cover]] shows the band treading water in a lake in an abandoned quarry near their hometown Louisville with deranged barely-smiling facial expressions.
66	* WholePlotReference: "Good Morning, Captain" is based on ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner.''

Context Music / Slint