Specializing in indie rock that splits the different between buzzy guitar noise and addled pop melodies,
Slang is a band hailing from Portland, Oregon featuring some notable figures from the Pacific Northwest music scene, including
Janet Weiss (best known for her work with
Sleater-Kinney,
Quasi, and
Wild Flag) and
Drew Grow (who has recorded with
Modern Kin and
Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives). Steeped in eccentric pop influences that share the stage with
Grow's impassioned, surreal poetic figures,
Slang had been a low-key project primarily devoted to covers, working under the radar for nearly ten years before the group took a stab at greater recognition with their debut album, 2022's
Cockroach in a Ghost Town.
Slang began as a lo-fi home studio project hatched by longtime friends
Janet Weiss and
Drew Grow as a fun diversion from their other musical endeavors.
Slang made their debut with a fuzzed-out cover of
the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care," which surfaced in 2013. As the two began regularly comparing notes on songwriting, they started working up material unique to
Slang, and by 2018 the duo had enough tunes to start playing out. To fill out the lineup,
Grow (on lead vocals and guitar) and
Weiss (drums and vocals) were joined by Anita Lee Elliot (formerly of
Viva Voce and Anita Lee & the Handsome 3) on lead guitar and
Kathy Foster (whose credits include
the Thermals and
Roseblood) on bass. Between her other musical projects and recovering from an auto accident in 2019,
Weiss' time was already at a premium before the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 put
Slang's recording plans on the back burner. In time, the band was able to complete work on their debut album, and Kill Rock Stars released their LP,
Cockroach in a Ghost Town, in May 2022. The album included guest appearances from
Stephen Malkmus of
Pavement,
Mary Timony (who plays in
Wild Flag with
Weiss), and
Sam Coomes (another of
Weiss' bandmates, in this case from
Quasi). ~ Mark Deming