Slint

In its time, Slint sounded like no one else. While there were others in the late ’80s and early ’90s who employed some of the same dramatic soft/loud dynamics, sing-speak vocals and dissonant, minimal guitars, none plunged into the deep, dark, emotional waters that the Louisville, Kentucky, group did on its landmark 1991 album Spiderland (the cover, showing the band neck-deep in a limestone quarry lake, may be one of the most apropos album sleeves in history). It was also Slint’s swan song, as the band was laid to rest shortly thereafter, only to reunite in 2005 for a handful of dates. Slint comes together again Friday 13 to perform Spiderland in its entirety as part of the Don’t Look Back concert series at the Pitchfork Music Festival (see “Pitch Perfect,” page 14). We spoke to guitarist-vocalist Brian McMahan and drummer Britt Walford about revisiting their milestone effort.

Rumor has it that prior to your 2005 reunion, you had to listen to Spiderland’s multitrack recordings at Chicago’s Soma studios to relearn the songs.
Britt Walford: Yeah, it helped to go back to the tapes and listen to them with perspective. We played those songs very little after we recorded them, and it was a really long time ago.

Brian McMahan: The process was one of immersion and just getting back to where we were. For me, it was definitely a time warp. It was pretty revealing to hear the songs after all this time and be able to scrutinize individual parts, like a weird vocal that I did, or Britt’s drumming, or anything specific. It’s very telling when you can come back to something 15 years later and have an emotional response to it, to still feel connected in some way. Actually, I was kind of worried about it beforehand.

Why?
BM: Because I didn’t know how it would feel to play those songs and hear them. And it was really cool. Hanging out with Britt and Dave [Pajo, guitarist] was very much like a trip back in time.

BW: I always wanted to play with Dave and Brian again as Slint. It just never seemed possible, since we live in different places and have separate lives. But now that I’m here, looking back at who I was back then is almost like looking at a different person.

How so?
BW: I would imagine it’s going to be the same for anybody going back to stuff they wrote when they were 18 or 19. It doesn’t feel totally foreign or anything, like I can’t get into it. But it’s a little surreal, too. We were so intensely into what we were into back then that there’s just a lot involved.

On the back cover of Spiderland’s vinyl release is a message that reads: “Interested female vocalists write 1864 Douglas Blvd. Louisville, KY. 40205.” PJ Harvey famously claimed to have written you and never gotten a response. Were you being serious?
BM: At the time we were totally serious. We did get some responses and we did listen to CDs and tapes. We didn’t end up doing anything immediately, so that idea of adding someone sort of fell by the wayside. But yeah, the stuff that we looked through was really cool. We got some awesome letters.

The album continues to be generously name-checked and used as a touchstone of its era. Could you have predicted its impact?
BW: Making an impact wasn’t something that I or any of the other guys were really conscious of at the time. You just kind of do what you do, and it’s really great when other people can appreciate it.

BM: I guess I’m a little less shocked now when I see some sort of reference to it in the press or elsewhere. What’s more significant for me is the fact that someone, somewhere, picked up this record by a band that was totally unknown when the record was made, and that more people have come into contact with it over time. I’m just glad that anyone ever heard it.—Antonia Simigis

Slint performs Spiderland at Union Park Friday 13, and also plays a non-Spiderland concert at Abbey Pub Saturday 14.