Cut Above
The Slits' Trapped Animal
Why would The Slits resurface now, 28 years after their last album was met with indifference? And, more to the point, what took them so long?
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After testing the waters in 2006 with the three-song Revenge of the Killer Slits, the legendary lineup's Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt have teamed up with three women young enough to have first heard The Slits in utero. Fittingly, Trapped Animal (Narnack) sounds like it was born whole, rather than resurrected. Like Up's accent, which reflects her roots in Germany, her youth in London and her long sojourn in Jamaica, The Slits draw from a number of musical influences and sound like no one else. They're blissed-out one moment and angry the next; they're playful, edgy and erotic all at once. "Reggae Gypsy" bridges cultures with horns and hand claps; "Lazy Slam" bridges generations with '80s synths and '00s snark. On the deceptively mellow "Issues," one survivor of child abuse cajoles another to stop playing the victim card: "The difference between me and you/ I stand up to them, I confront/ While you choose to be a cunt." Elsewhere, Up calls out misogynists ("Ask Ma"), toxic lovers ("Partner from Hell") and garden-variety cads ("Cry Baby").
It's a worthy successor to 1979's Cut, The Slits' first fusion of punk spunk and reggae rhythms. Up addresses men unworthy of her attention on "Love und Romance," and zeroes in on consumer culture with "Shoplifting." If the album sounds a little thin three decades later, you can't fault Up's forceful trills and screeches, Pollitt's bouncy bass work, Viv Albertine's minimalist guitar lines or Budgie's spirited drumming. Everything should be higher in the mix, but you'll want to lean in anyway for the unlikely melodies of "Instant Hit," a portrait of a junkie, and "FM," which dresses down fear mongerers and faithful manipulators. The most unfortunate aspect is how right-on it all is; as weapons, fear and faith have gained political power since Cut's release. After critiquing the stereotype of the then-modern woman in "Typical Girls," Up notes the system's sad reward for those who don't question their role: "There's another marketing ploy/ Typical girl gets the typical boy." Telling, and still timely.
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