7. The SlitsCut
I saw The Slits at Tiffany’s in Purley supporting The Clash. They were really messy, half the audience walked out. But I thought there was something charming about it. Then they did a split single with The Pop Group [‘In The Beginning There Was Rhythm’/’Where There’s A Will There’s A Way’] which I still have the 7" of and then this record comes out on Island and it’s really brilliantly produced and also has Budgie drumming. I still listen to it all the time. A great record to play in a club on vinyl. Yes, it was the perfect calibration of what I was listening to at the time, this was something different as it was a hybrid of two different styles, I was so into punk and into reggae and here was a band that did them both. But they never got close to [this quality] ever again, Return Of The Giant Slits was a good record, New Age Steppers was cool but Cut is the definitive statement. And it’s great to see Viv Albertine back and doing lots of cool shit as well.
