The Slits: Cut (Import) Vinyl LP

“Sassy and streetwise: The Slits were everything girls in a band werent supposed to be before punk leveled the playing field, and their debut album, Cut, continues to astound. Admittedly, the feisty London-based quartet was well-placed to surf punks first wave. Future Siouxsie & The Banshees drummer Budgie was drafted in to man the traps for the sessions, which were overseen by Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell, the Barbados-born producer arguably best known for his work with dub reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. Released in September 1979, Cut gained instant notoriety due to its controversial cover image. However, the music contained within was every bit as striking. Enhanced by Budgies crisp, inventive drumming, the girls natural quirkiness came careening to the fore on scratchy but exuberant pop-punk tracks including ‘So Tough’ and the irreverent, anti-consumerist ‘Shoplifting,’ but the albums spacy surroundings also owed a debt of gratitude to Bovells deft studio techniques, with his Channel One-esque subterranean dub wizardry gracing highlights such as ‘Adventures Close To Home’ and the brilliant football- and TV-dissing ‘Newtown.’ The album yielded a minor hit single when its most infectious track, ‘Typical Girls,’ was released as a spin-off 45, backed with a stripped-down but highly effective cover of Motown staple ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine.’ Cut also broached the UK Top 40 and has since been enthusiastically championed by trailblazing musicians ranging from trip-hop futurists Massive Attack to feminist punks Sleater-Kinney. It remains The Slits artistic pinnacle.” – Island

• black vinyl pressing
• UK import
• includes printed insert
• original release year: 1979
• music label: Island 2025