Slint

Slint rose out of the ashes of two Louisville bands, Squirrel Bait and Maurice, in 1986: Brian McMahan on guitar and vocals, David Pajo on guitar, Britt Walford on drums and vocals, and Ethan Buckler on bass. Steve Albini recorded their first album, Tweez, which came out in 1989 on their own Jennifer Hartman Records and Tapes. Buckler wasn't happy with how it turned out and walked, and Todd Brashear took over the bass.

Then came Spiderland, released by Touch and Go Records in 1991, and nothing in indie rock sounded quite like it. The guitars circle and pick at the same patterns, the drums hold back until they suddenly don't, and the vocals are half-spoken, half-whispered, as if the singer were confessing to a stranger in the dark. When the quiet finally breaks, it hits like a wave smashing through a window, and "Good Morning, Captain" is the one rock radio's countdowns keep dusting off. Math rock and post-rock both trace their roots here.

Slint barely registered while they were together, but the cult grew once they were gone. Touch and Go later issued an untitled EP recorded between the two albums, and after scattered reunions the band called it quits again in 2014. Spiderland, meanwhile, has grown into one of the '90s indie records critics praise most, and its reputation keeps on spreading.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.