Few albums manage to express anger, frustration, and hopelessness without resorting to tired clichés of whiny screaming, distorted guitars, and infantile whining about either girls or politics. Kids inevitably latch onto this music and proclaim it brilliant because they don't know any better, but when you find an album that manages to express those three things without any of the clichés, you usually embrace this new way, and rise above the angst-ridden corporate rock that seems to be becoming more and more popular. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

Anyway, Slint's "Spiderland" is an album which does just that. Sure, there are moments where the guitar gets blisteringly heavy, there are moments when vocalist Brian McMahon screams as loud as he possibly can, but these are employed with style and subtlety rather than being slopped across the music like gravy on a pork roast. This is still dark music, but its dark music played with an intelligent audience in mind.

Take opener Breadcrumb Trail, for instance. Probably the lightest track on the album, it recounts a visit to a travelling carnival, where the storyteller takes a gypsy for a ride on a rollercoaster. Moving into darker territory, the next song, Nosferatu Main blends harsh, single-note guitar tones with stories of ghouls and vampires. Don, Aman tells a story of a man on the edge, starting with a single strumming guitar and the portentious words "Don stepped outside". Washer starts off slowly, revolving around and around in circles, spinning off unsettling guitar riffs and overdubs, before finally erupting in cyclonic fury. Instrumental track ...for dinner allows things to cool down before the epic closing track, the ambition maritime-themed Good Morning, Captain brings the album to a screeching, jarring halt.

While "Spiderland" stands perfectly well on its own as an example of a great forty minutes of music, its legacy is even more important. It delivered a kick in the pants to other indie bands of the time, proving that you didn't need the backing of a big label to make a fantastic record, and it proved a catalyst for the growing post-rock movement, with its nebulous song structures and elaborate concepts. Thirteen years after its release, its still quite easy to see the influence of Slint in bands as diverse as Mogwai, Tortoise and Chavez. Although this album was drowned out by the grunge explosion, it still stands as a very important landmark in nineties rock, as well as a critically under-appreciated album.

Few albums manage to express anger, frustration, and hopelessness without resorting to tired clichés of whiny screaming, distorted guitars, and infantile whining about either girls or politics. Kids inevitably latch onto this music and proclaim it brilliant because they don't know any better, but when you find an album that manages to express those three things without any of the clichés, you usually embrace this new way, and rise above the angst-ridden corporate rock that seems to be becoming more and more popular. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

Anyway, Slint's "Spiderland" is an album which does just that. Sure, there are moments where the guitar gets blisteringly heavy, there are moments when vocalist Brian McMahon screams as loud as he possibly can, but these are employed with style and subtlety rather than being slopped across the music like gravy on a pork roast. This is still dark music, but its dark music played with an intelligent audience in mind.

Take opener Breadcrumb Trail, for instance. Probably the lightest track on the album, it recounts a visit to a travelling carnival, where the storyteller takes a gypsy for a ride on a rollercoaster. Moving into darker territory, the next song, Nosferatu Main blends harsh, single-note guitar tones with stories of ghouls and vampires. Don, Aman tells a story of a man on the edge, starting with a single strumming guitar and the portentious words "Don stepped outside". Washer starts off slowly, revolving around and around in circles, spinning off unsettling guitar riffs and overdubs, before finally erupting in cyclonic fury. Instrumental track ...for dinner allows things to cool down before the epic closing track, the ambition maritime-themed Good Morning, Captain brings the album to a screeching, jarring halt.

While "Spiderland" stands perfectly well on its own as an example of a great forty minutes of music, its legacy is even more important. It delivered a kick in the pants to other indie bands of the time, proving that you didn't need the backing of a big label to make a fantastic record, and it proved a catalyst for the growing post-rock movement, with its nebulous song structures and elaborate concepts. Thirteen years after its release, its still quite easy to see the influence of Slint in bands as diverse as Mogwai, Tortoise and Chavez. Although this album was drowned out by the grunge explosion, it still stands as a very important landmark in nineties rock, as well as a critically under-appreciated album.