Slint – Spiderland

A cult classic from Louisville, Kentucky-based alternative rock band Slint, Spiderland is the band’s second and final album. The story goes that the recording process was especially “traumatic… and one more piece of evidence supporting the theory that band members had to be periodically institutionalized during the completion of the album.” You can hear it in singer Brian McMahon’s manic vocal delivery that oscillates from near mumbling spoken word, singing, to shouting. “Good Morning, Captain,” the album’s unsettling closer, is a masterwork in tension and dynamics leading up to a terrifying McMahon scream. Spiderland received little press outside of a rare ten-star review from the great Steve Albini in Melody Maker, but would go on to influence generations of post-rock and math rock groups including Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, and Dinosaur Jr.

Listen to Slint’s Spiderland at our Audio Note x Good Neighbor listening event on February 26th. RSVP here.