Customer Reviews

Return of the Giant Slits

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This long out-of-print, post-punk, dubwise Slits comeback, also turned out to be their swansong. I attended their tours surrounding this release back in the day, and they'd become a tremendous afro-centric, euro-rasta outfit, with an extended line-up. The shows were incredible. This is the formal studio freeze-frame of that luminous supergroup. Ari-Up's broiling vocals soar, yodeling and ululating with the calls of the entire animal kingdom within her larynx! Tessa, Viv, and the rest, expand the SlitsSound with thundering tribal drumming, big, deep bass runs, and all manner of autumnal, Saharan effects. The most sinuous, and authetic of all the ensuing African-influenced, post-punk acts of the time. With the antiseptic drudgery of new wave ahead, The Slits abandoned ship, and ran for individualized pursuits. Most notably Ari, who landed in the jungles of Borneo, Belize, and Jamaica. She continued to release influential discs with the New Age Steppers, which share a sound kindred with this album. Ari-Up is now back from the jungle, releasing her own music through www.ari-up.com ! "Return Of The Giant Slits" includes a bonus track of "Earthbeat" with the ladies crooning the song in Japanese. Critical music!!!

In contrast to their acclaimed debut Cut, the Slits' only other album, 1981's "Return of the Giant Slits" is generally overlooked in the world of post-punk releases. Although I had heard traces of what it was like on the (otherwise) overblown and badly fuzzy Peel Sessions, I was not until recently interested despite the fact that I knew such later masters as Björk, Joanna Newsom and Spires That in the Sunset Rise owed a lot to their stripped-down, even piercing style.

However, upon hearing "Return of the Giant Slits", one can actually see that the group had a vision that was far beyond what they managed to achieve on "Cut" and that they were capable of defying trends rather than going with them.

"Return of the Giant Slits" is the antithesis of hard and aggressive: the rhythms are as fleet-footed as a ballerina and so sparsely used as to create a sense of space that is not reflective, but creates a sense of desperation. Opener "Earthbeat" is the best known song on "Return of the Giant Slits" and has the heaviest and most "Cut"-like rhythms, but wiht second track "Or What It Is?" slows down the tempo to create something really unique: quiet desperation. Ari Up clearly knows how hard it is to find love, but so few have ever managed to put the problems involved into words. "Face Place" is so soft as to be beautiful, but the folk-inflected sound that was never seen on "Cut" is developed here like never before and mixed with jazzy rhythms, vibraphone and piano to create an effect that will always surprise the listener.

Fourth track "Walkabout" goes even further, and is the Slits' first genuine masterpiece with a remarkable groove and lyrics that are serious yet amazingly funny and unusual in their theme of encountering a primitive tribal people in the tropics. The groove creates a sense of void, whereby the person being involved does not know how to understand their own experiences. "Difficult Fun" is even more delicate and its lyrical theme equally unusual: how difficult it really is to enjoy oneself, but the following two tracks are the ones which ought to established beyond any doubt the importance of "Return of the Giant Slits". "Animal Space"/"Spacier" is about the reaction of people to intrusion, and its creepy repetition of the same basic lyrics on various patterns is entrancing, as is the band's amazing sense of rhythm that rivals a poet or dancer. Seventh track "Improperly Dressed" is even funnier than the Slits ever had been before - satirising popular manners - yet the light rhythms and jazzy horns convey a despairing sense that can remind one of being criticised without ever doing anything wrong. It is impossible to do justice to Ari Up's lyrical sense on "Improperly Dressed": almost every line is so funny yet serious. Closer "Life on Earth" is a properly developed epic that is almost like a concept of how life has evolved: moving from the typical quiet, fleet-of-foot rhythms of "Return of the Giant Slits" to much faster tones in the second half, like an explosion or a natural disaster. Whilst "Life on Earth" does nto stand as being so memorable as "Animal Space"/"Spacier" or "Improperly Dressed", it is nonetheless fascinating on careful listening.

All in all, this overlooked second album is actually the real legacy of the first all-female band to really attract attention. Whilst the folksy sound and ecological themes on "Return of the Giant Slits" were not new, the way in which they were developed was very distinct from the lavish complexity of, say, Laura Nyro and inspired many women who would never have been attracted by the aggressiveness of the "punk revolution" from which the group sprang.

watch to see which order of "Return Of The Gaint Slits" you are getting. the tracklisting on Amazon has 12 tracks but the one i received has only 9.

beside that the tracks are great ("Difficult Fun" has this wack synth line though...). the sound strays of course to more of riddim sound, less punky but with a definite punk attitude and producer Dennis Bovell can be found on a few tracks.

the strange thing is that there is 2 versions of "Earthbeat" on the release i got but only one on the expanded version. but you're not missing anything.

anyway, grab it and enjoy.

The Slits. In Japanese. It has to be heard to be believed.

Although it is less well known than their other classic, Cut, this disc, Return of the Giant Slits, is a recording that also deserves a wide audience. Check out this Japanese import, if only because you get to hear Daichi No Oto (aka Earthbeat, in Japanese). Also sounding as good as ever, if alas in English, are Improperly dressed, Face place, Walk about, Or what is it?

More heavy and dubby than Cut, Return of the Giant Slits sees Ari Up and pals playing funkier, bassier tunes, further from Cut's choppier sound and more in the direction of the New Age Steppers. Totally recommended if you like angry girls looking for love