GravitySlips

I quite like a lot of their music actually, my friend was a huge fan when we were younger so I've heard some of the 80s stuff as well. Mother's Milk was a good 'un, they definitely had a lot more bite and attitude back then and it makes for much better music than stuff like By The Way which I find dull as f*ck. In fairness I did only make that comment because I knew boo boo would say something back, the Chilis back in the day were good fun although I wasn't a massive fan even of that. Haven't heard that stuff in years though.

A lot of post rock is boring, definitely. All those Godspeed/Mogwai clones bore the s*it outta me.

Slint, on the other hand, are just genius. That record (Spiderland), is a truly innovative and brilliant album. I appreciate it's not for everyone though, and I had some trouble enjoying it when I first heard it years ago too, but it turned out to be a real grower. Now I'd probably place it in my top 20 albums of all time.

What do I love about it? There's the weird spindly guitar riffs that emphasize harmonics so heavily, and all the abrupt changes in dynamics, where quiet repetitive riffs into explosive post-hardcore sections. There are subtle time signature changes that I barely noticed till I started learning their songs on drums. That drummer is amazing, a perfect compliment to what's going on around him. And the lyrics, which are so dark and surreal and loaded with imagery - apparently the band members were on the verge of mental collapse at the time of its recording which is quite enlightening. There's the weird spoken word vocals, which occasionally break into deranged shouting. All these elements combine beautifully, it's just an amazingly bleak sounding album. The way it's recorded and produced as well, it has a dark sorta atmosphere unlike anything I've heard, and certainly unlike any of the bombastic music that gets called "post rock" nowadays. No wonder it had a big impact on those who heard it when it came out, I can't think of anything made before Spiderland that sounds even remotely like it. It's a fascinating album to me. I can understand how people dislike it, but for me it's a true classic.