#260 The Slits, 'Cut' (1979)

New Entry

Knowing of The Slits’ reputation, I did not expect this album to sound like this. Cutting their teeth with The Clash on tours in 1977 and 1978, I imagined their sound to be more hardcore. The album is raw with production kept to a minimum; sounds as if it was recorded in someone’s garage. But that’s the charm of this record. No bells and whistles, just a straight up fun punk record.

Shortly before the recording of this record, co-founder and drummer Palmolive left the band to form The Raincoats, with their debut album (#398) coming out two months after this one. I mentioned in the review of that album that it was one of Kurt Cobain’s all-time favourite albums. These two bands had such an influence on him. He named ‘Typical Girls’ from ‘Cut’ as one of his all-time favourite songs. As with The Raincoats, The Slits paved the way for women in rock and punk music, showing little girls that punk was not exclusively reserved for men. Shortly after this album, Neneh Cherry would briefly join the band as backing vocalist.

#rs500albums