You can draw lines from
Slint to
the For Carnation,
the Breeders, Palace,
Papa M, and
Zwan, but the great forgotten post-
Slint band was Evergreen, for whom Britt Walford played drums and keyboards. The 2003 reissue of the band's only full-length (first released in 1996) proves itself to be virtually timeless. Produced by DFA's James Murphy, the eponymous release applies
Slint's sensibilities (hear the influence on "Glass Highway") to drunk dance-punk drawn from
the Stooges,
Television,
Fugazi, and in the case of Sean McLoughlin's unhinged vocals,
the Rolling Stones. What a great example of an album that should have blown apart the whole world of rock & roll, but instead probably made its mark slowly -- glacially even -- as the original fans of the Kentucky outfit formed bands of their own. From the simmering
Iggy grit of "Fairlane" to the blazing "Solar Song," this record is both reckless and tight, with the theatrics of
Nation of Ulysses. To the ear of 2003, Evergreen could be the cross between
the Strokes and
the White Stripes, and it just goes to show that Louisville, KY, may have been the most important locale to later 20th century independent rock music -- it was at least as important as New York and Seattle. ~ Charles Spano