Spiderland is a record that once you’ve heard you will never forget. An album of peerless angst and one that almost single handedly created a movement.

Originally released in the Spring of 1991 on iconic Chicago record label Touch and Go Records, Spiderland is the second - and final album - by Slint. The band had formed just a few years earlier as teenages, working with Steve Albini on their 1989 debut Tweez. Albini apparently noted at the time that, ‘I don't think you guys will ever get big, but you'll be really influential’, which of all the Albini-ish stuff, foreseeing both the young band’s potential and likely trajectory is one of his most gloriously Albini-ish moments. Brian Paulson took charge of production for Spiderland which was recorded in the summer of 1990 in just four days, with the dense and complex arrangements carefully composed in advance and the brooding lyrics written in the studio almost on the fly. The band ultimately parted ways and disbanded before Spiderland’s release, but what was captured on tape remains eerie and powerful thirty years later.
Spiderland wasn’t a huge landmark album on release, but it did however find its way to an audience of true appreciators and was certainly one of the first records to light the touchpaper for Post-rock (although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1994 by author Simon Reynolds). The release campaign was also hampered somewhat by the band disbanding, with very few interviews and even less live shows outside of their native Louisville. But that only added to the mystique. “Slint”. “Spiderland”. That iconic black and white sleeve image, it gives away so little and that's what makes it all so enthralling. The sleeve image was famously shot by Will Oldham (Bonnie "Prince" Billy), trespassing - as the band had become accustomed - at a quarry in Utica, Indiana. An iconic sleeve and a curious image worthy of its own feature.

“When the record started catching on, I realised that marketing and publicity and all that stuff is important, but it's secondary to the music. And Spiderland proved that. We were a band that broke up leaving an album in a black-and-white record sleeve. No tours, no information. Six songs, but they connected with people." - David Pajo

Spiderland is tense, often sparse and for the very vast majority, utterly desolate. The songs are knotty and complex, with hushed apprehension and shocking blasts of fury and noise. Whispered and screamed vocals are equally gripping and cathartic. Spiderland’s real magic is just the sense of anguish they managed to capture. Lightning struck and the tape was rolling, it really was that rare.

The antithesis of carefree, Spiderland creates dark shadows and a palpable sense of unease. You just have to marvel at how much you can feel it.





• 2023 reissue.
• 180g Dark Blue colour vinyl.
• Edition of 500 copies.