Year: 1979
Country: UK
City: London
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 11
Time: 36 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Punk Dub
This UK feminist punk outfit formed in 1976 with a line-up featuring
Ari-Up (b. Arianna Foster; vocals), Kate Korus (b. Katherine Corris, New
York, USA; guitar), Palmolive (b. Paloma Romero; drums, ex-Raincoats)
and Suzi "Gutsy" Webb (bass).
Korus soon left to form the Mo-dettes and Gutsy quit to team up with
the Flicks. They were replaced by guitarist Viv Albertine and bass
player Tessa Pollitt and it was this line-up that supported the Clash
during the spring of 1977.
The band were known for their uncompromising attitude and professed
lack of technique, but their music was as aggressive and confrontational
as the best of the punk fraternity. Their failure to secure a record
contract during the first wave of the punk explosion was surprising. By
the time they made their recording debut, Palmolive had been ousted and
replaced by Big In Japan percussionist Budgie (b. Peter Clark, 21 August
1957).
Signed to Island Records, they worked with reggae producer Dennis
Bovell on the dub-influenced Cut. The album attracted considerable press
interest for its sleeve, which featured the band naked, after rolling
in mud.
The departure of Budgie to Siouxsie And The Banshees (replaced by
the Pop Group's Bruce Smith) coincided with the arrival of reggae
musician Prince Hammer and trumpeter Don Cherry, whose very young
stepdaughter, Neneh Cherry also joined for a short period. A series of
singles followed, including a memorable version of John Holt's "Man Next
Door".
By 1981, The Slits had lost much of their original cutting edge and
it came as little surprise when they disbanded at the end of the year.
Ari-Up revived The Slits in the new millennium for a series of low-key
live sets.
"return of the giant"Year: 1981
Label: Universal
Format: LP, CD
Tracks: 8
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Punk Dub
"Return of the Giant Slits" is a slippery, glorious
mess that will infuriate anyone expecting the Slits to revisit their debut. The
nervous energy that powered "Cut" is seemingly replaced with a relaxed
smoked-out vibe that belies the group putting their Jamaican influences-- as well
as their interest in other world musics-- front and center. At times, this
might make the record sound like aimless noodling, the band just biding time on
the label's dime while someone behind the mixing board packs a new bowl.
However, while this tact has little in common with the pogo grind essayed by
their more traditional punk rock contemporaries, they're right in line with the
off-the-wall antics of their more open-minded countrymen, like This Heat and
especially the Pop Group. For "Return...", it's not a case of less energy,
but repurposed energy.
