Slip It In

Last updated

Slip It In
Black Flag - Slip It In cover.jpg
Studio album by
Black Flag
ReleasedDecember 1984
RecordedJune 1984
Studio Total Access Recording (Redondo Beach, California)
Genre
Length38:37
Label SST
Producer Greg Ginn, Spot, Bill Stevenson
Black Flag chronology
Family Man
(1984)		Slip It In
(1984)		 Live '84
(1984)

Slip It In is the fourth studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1984 by SST Records.

Contents

Slip It In is an extension of the sound Black Flag utilized on its second album My War : heavy, cathartic, intense, dense and progressive. The album pursued the newer, lengthier song arrangements that Black Flag would develop until its demise. It also features Henry Rollins' further development as a lyricist, contributing four of eight tracks on the album. This album also demonstrates Black Flag's increasing use of instrumentals, where Greg Ginn demonstrates his increasingly more complex playing style.

Recording and style

Slip It In was recorded on a brief break on the continuous tour for My War , which saw Black Flag at their most ambitious. This year they would release three full-length albums and toured nearly constantly, with Rollins noting 178 performances for the year, and about that many for 1985. With Dukowski gone, Ginn ceded much of the spotlight to Rollins, who had expressed some discomfort [1] over being the group's de facto spokesman, while Ginn was the recognized leader (Ginn wrote the majority of the group's songs and lyrics).

In many ways, Slip It In is a fusion of the styles utilized on their previous releases (with vocals), Damaged and My War. The songs are inspired by heavy metal, yet the material also shows traces of "sludgy 'pre-grunge' metal, hardcore punk, and thrash to blues rock and jazz." [2] The track "My Ghetto" even contains traces of a musical style that would later become known as powerviolence. At the middle point of the album, there is an instrumental track called "Obliteration" which highlights Ginn's chord progressions where Brandon Sideleau of Punknews.org claims that it "mashes sludge and jazz into an ominous hybrid."

Cover art

The album cover features a provocative piece of Raymond Pettibon artwork, as many of Black Flag's album/single covers and gig fliers do. The image is of a nun embracing a bare male leg. Bassist Kira Roessler has expressed complex feelings about the image. For example, she has said "I didn't really recognize that they might have interesting ideas about women and that me being in the band was controversial. I didn't think that way until I saw the cover of Slip It In and I kind of realized, for one thing, they certainly didn't glorify women. That cover does not glorify women." [3] She has also indicated that she has come to terms with the cover art choice.

Music video

A low-budget music video was produced for the album's title track. It revolves around a teacher lip syncing to the vocals to the song along with the class and cuts to clips to the band performing to the song. The video ends with the teacher telling about the album coming out and promoting their "students" to see them on their tour.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Christgau's Record Guide C+ [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Great Rock Discography 5/10 [7]
MusicHound Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Punknews.orgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

Slip It In has received mixed reviews over the years. Shortly after its release, Ira Robbins of Trouser Press dismissed the album, writing that it "blurs the line between moronic punk and moronic metal. Songs are mostly built on trite riffs repeated endlessly; the rude lyrics of the title song are performed complete with enthusiastic sex noises for anyone who fails to grasp the point and/or be offended by it." [10] Robert Christgau was also quite negative, despite reserving some praise for the song "You're Not Evil". [5]

In retrospective reviews, John Dougan of AllMusic wrote that while the album was a bit better than its predecessor and featured "increasingly avant-garde and exciting" guitarwork from Greg Ginn (which was compared to James Blood Ulmer), it "still wanders a bit". [4] Brandon Sideleau of Punknews.org calls it "a classic and a landmark for independent music." He defends the title track, calling it a "punk metal masterpiece often unfairly seen as sexist, when in reality it's quite the opposite. Greg Ginn's lyrics are raunchy and angry, but the song is more about people and their choices than anything else." [2]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Slip It In" Greg Ginn 6:17
2."Black Coffee"Ginn4:53
3."Wound Up"Ginn, Henry Rollins 4:17
4."Rat's Eyes"Ginn, Rollins3:57
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Obliteration" (instrumental)Ginn5:51
6."The Bars" Chuck Dukowski, Rollins4:20
7."My Ghetto"Ginn, Rollins2:02
8."You're Not Evil"Ginn7:00

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1984)Peak
position
UK Indie Chart [11] 8

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Flag (band)</span> American hardcore punk band

Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member, and singer Keith Morris. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kira Roessler</span> American musician

Kira Roessler is an American musician who was the bass guitarist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been a member of the rock duo Dos with her ex-husband Mike Watt.

<i>My War</i> 1984 studio album by Black Flag

My War is the second studio album by American band Black Flag. It was the first of three full-length albums the band released in 1984. The album polarized fans due to the LP's B-side, on which the band slowed down to a heavy, Black Sabbath-esque trudge after establishing expectations as a faster hardcore punk band on its first album, Damaged (1981).

<i>Damaged</i> (Black Flag album) 1981 studio album by Black Flag

Damaged is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released by SST Records in November 1981.

<i>Family Man</i> (Black Flag album) 1984 studio album by Black Flag

Family Man is the third studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. Released in 1984 through SST Records, it features spoken word tracks by vocalist Henry Rollins and jazz-indebted instrumental tracks. It is also the first album to feature bassist Kira Roessler. "Armageddon Man" is the only track on the album in which Rollins and the instruments are together.

<i>Everything Went Black</i> 1982 compilation album by Black Flag

Everything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1982 through SST Records. The compilation comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and was initially released without the group's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn. Instead, the names of the group members were listed on the first release.

<i>The First Four Years</i> (album) 1983 compilation album by Black Flag

The First Four Years is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1983 on SST Records. The compilation consists of all of the group's material released before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981. It essentially collects the extended plays Nervous Breakdown (1979), Jealous Again (1980), Six Pack (1981), and the single "Louie Louie", with two tracks from various artists' compilation albums.

<i>Live 84</i> 1984 live album by Black Flag

Live '84 is an album released by Black Flag in 1984 on SST Records. It is a live recording of a show played in 1984 and features mostly tracks from My War and Slip It In. A video was shot simultaneously and was briefly available through SST; the now-out-of-print video has been widely bootlegged.

<i>Loose Nut</i> 1985 studio album by Black Flag

Loose Nut is the fifth studio album by American band Black Flag, released in 1985 on SST Records.

<i>The Process of Weeding Out</i> 1985 EP by Black Flag

The Process of Weeding Out is the fifth EP by American band Black Flag. One of the most potent realizations of guitarist Greg Ginn's fascination with the avant-garde, The Process of Weeding Out is described by critic Chris True of AllMusic as "an interesting document of Greg Ginn's development from high-speed guitar 'sculptor' to one of the few punk artists to embrace 12-tone experimental music." Because of the jazz influences by Ginn, all of the tracks are instrumental.

<i>Minuteflag</i> 1986 EP by Black Flag and Minutemen

Minuteflag was an experimental jam band collaboration between members of the American punk bands Minutemen and Black Flag. Their only release, an EP, consists entirely of instrumentals with the exception of "Fetch the Water" which features D. Boon on lead vocals.

<i>Annihilate This Week</i> 1986 live album (EP) by Black Flag

Annihilate This Week is a single by American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It contains songs from Who's Got the 10½? The cover, which features numerous items of drug paraphernalia, was banned in some record stores.

<i>In My Head</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Black Flag

In My Head is the sixth studio album by American punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1985 on SST Records, and was their final studio album before their breakup in 1986. The CD reissue adds three of the four songs that later appeared on the I Can See You EP, replicating the original 1985 cassette release which came out concurrent to the LP.

<i>Wasted…Again</i> 1987 compilation album by Black Flag

Wasted…Again is an album released by American hardcore punk band Black Flag in 1987 on SST Records. It is a "best-of" compilation released after Black Flag's breakup in 1986. It features various songs about drinking and beer from their discography.

<i>Jealous Again</i> 1980 EP by Black Flag

Jealous Again is the second EP by American hardcore punk band Black Flag, and the third-ever release on SST Records.

dos is an American rock group composed of Mike Watt and Kira Roessler, who both sing and play bass guitar. Critic Greg Prato describes their unusual instrumentation as "a haunting yet intriguing and original sound."

<i>Paranoid Time</i> 1980 EP by Minutemen

Paranoid Time is the debut EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen. It is also the second ever release by the SST record label, founded by Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski. The album cover is a drawing by the American artist Raymond Pettibon.

The Nig-Heist was a punk-comedy-shock rock band led by Steve "Mugger" Corbin, a roadie and live sound engineer for Black Flag and employee of SST Records. The Nig-Heist featured a revolving-door roster of members of the bands who were on tour with Black Flag at the moment. The band used to open for Black Flag on tour and recorded a 7", an LP and had tracks on compilations. They were notorious for their risqué stage antics, including band members playing naked, Mugger wearing a long-haired wig and insulting the crowd. Their songs were overtly vulgar and explicit in a funny way. Their motto was: "The band that cums in your mouth, not in your hands".

<i>What The...</i> 2013 studio album by Black Flag

What The… is the seventh studio album by American hardcore punk band Black Flag. The album was originally announced to be released on November 5, 2013, with 3 promotional singles being released between May and July. However, on November 5, What The… was only released through online streaming sources such as Spotify and Rdio, and a physical release date was pushed back to December 3, 2013. It is the band's first full-length studio album since In My Head (1985), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career, as well as being their first recording with vocalist Ron Reyes since Jealous Again (1980) and drummer Gregory "Drummer" Moore. This album also marked the first time since My War (1984) that guitarist Greg Ginn played bass on a Black Flag album under the name Dale Nixon. Three weeks after the album's release, Reyes was fired mid-show during a performance in Australia due to differences with Ginn. The band's manager and professional skateboarder Mike Vallely replaced Reyes on vocals.

References

  1. ↑ see the track "Henry" from the spoken word compilation double album "English As a Second Language" (1984)
  2. 1 2 3 Sideleau, Brandon (August 28, 2005). "Slip It In". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Kira Roessler Interview: Originally Ran in Razorcake #26, Now an Ebook with New Introduction By Ryan – Razorcake". May 1, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Dougan, John. Slip It In at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  5. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s . Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-73015-X . Retrieved August 17, 2020– via robertchristgau.com.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  7. ↑ Martin C. Strong (1998). The Great Rock Discography (1st ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN   978-0-86241-827-4.
  8. ↑ Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN   978-0-7876-1037-1.
  9. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Black Flag". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). London: Fireside Books. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8 . Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Black Flag". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  11. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.