Tweez

Spiderland, Slint’s posthumous second LP, is clearly their defining statement, but the album’s well-deserved cult following has marginalized the humbler, weirder rewards of their debut, originally released by the band’s friend Jennifer Hartman on her eponymous label in 1989. Only hinting at the ominous gravity of the band’s later work, Tweez has an almost playful feel, at times coming across like a grimier Meat Puppets or groovier Big Black. Dave Pajo and Brian McMahan’s guitars alternately twinkle or stab with piercing fuzzed-out treble, while bassist Ethan Buckler and drummer Britt Walford contrast plodding post-hardcore rhythms with sinuous flow and sprightly bounce. (Building off the quirky complexity of pre-Slint outfit Maurice, some tracks here, e.g., the lovably geeky, mostly instrumental “Pat, almost sound like DIY jazz fusion.) Vocals often take the form of elliptical narration or sprinklings of studio chatter, added in by producer Steve Albini along with all manner of ambient cacophony. At times, the album, down to its bizarre cover of a Saab parked in the woods and song titles nodding to the members’ parents, can feel like an elaborate inside joke. But the less you try to make sense of it, the more fun it all is.