Slivers From the Spine (SST Records)

 

Hello again! This latest compilation is in celebration of SST Records, one of my favourite record labels from the 1980s. It's by no means a definitive overview; rather, it features tracks from SST releases I personally bought back in the day. I thought about including something from Opal’s "Happy Nightmare Baby", but the version I picked up was released on Rough Trade in the UK, so it didn’t feel quite right for this comp. Also no Henry Rollins era Black Flag are here, the only release I bought of them was "The First Four Years", which covers their early stuff before Rollins joined.

Some albums I still cherish, notably the albums released on SST by Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Volcano Suns, Screaming Trees and Slovenly. I really should do a Slovenly anthology one day, they're a bit of an acquired taste but I've loved every album they released. Maybe a Volcano Suns collection too, that'd be quite a noisy affair! Another possibility is Pell Mell, in fact the final SST album I bought was their 1991 release "Flow". Like most of my comps, this one’s a mix of some better-known bands and a few more obscure ones that you might not have heard of before.

Jusf for the fun of it, I posted this mix to ChatGPT and asked them to write up a description of the contents. Here is the result!
"From the vaults of America's most relentlessly uncompromising independent label comes a collection so raw, so real, and so recklessly non-commercial… we’re amazed it exists at all.

Presenting a once-in-a-lifetime sonic journey through the hallowed halls of SST Records, where melody feared to tread and song structure was merely a suggestion. This essential anthology assembles the all-stars of underground iconoclasm: the blinding fury of Black Flag, the melodic mayhem of Hüsker Dü, the sunbaked surrealism of Meat Puppets, the econo-genius of Minutemen, and the art-damaged charm of Slovenly—bands so ahead of their time, they’re still broke.

This collection crackles with the unfiltered electricity of an era when indie meant indigent, and “tour support” was just sleeping on a stranger’s floor.

Are you ready for 80 minutes of music that changed everything, and sold almost nothing?
Then step into the van, crank the volume, and embrace the noise.

SST: Sounds So Tremendous. Or Something."

Not bad, I must say! As usual origin of each track & year of release is tagged in the music files and noted in the download folder. Hope you enjoy!


  1. Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown (2:05)
  2. Hüsker Dü - I Apologize (3:36)
  3. Angst - Red Wing (2:43)
  4. Minutemen - The Glory of Man (2:57)
  5. Saccharine Trust - We Became Snakes (5:21)
  6. Würm - I'm Dead (3:24)
  7. Bad Brains - Sacred Love (3:36)
  8. No Man is Roger Miller - Calling the Animals (3:56)
  9. Lawndale - Interstellar Caravan (2:49)
10. Das Damen - 555 (ESP With a Fender Version - Long Mix) (6:07)
11. Screaming Trees - Transfiguration (3:55)
12. Slovenly - The Way Untruths Are (4:16)
13. Volcano Suns - Noodle on the Couch (3:56)
14. Dicks - Rich Daddy (2:27)
15. Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt (3:32)
16. Trotsky Icepick - Big Dreams (4:03)
17. Pell Mell - Aero (3:54)
18. fIREHOSE - The Candle and the Flame (3:11)
19. Descendents - Impressions (3:06)
20. Meat Puppets - Away (3:25)
21. Dinosaur Jr. - Lose (3:07)
22. Grant Hart - Twenty-Five Forty-One (4:40)

 Download FLAC
 Download mp3