The Slits
Cut

THE REVIEW

Late '70s. England. A turbulent time in the old Albion, punk was exploding with its thunderous subversive charge, and bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash were setting London ablaze with their music and destructive concerts.
Right at the end of the '70s, 1976 to be precise, in Ladbroke Grove, a district in the western suburbs of London, the project of the Slits took shape: Viv Albertine on guitar, Ari Upp Forster on vocals, Tessa Pollitt on bass, Palmolive on drums.

The Slits are simply the first all-girl punk band, and what a group of girls they were (just look at the cover to believe it!)... the cheerful riot girls, not exactly conservatory graduates, shall we say, but they knew how to combine their not-so-great musical skills with an extraordinary grit, energy, and passion. The Slits had a short life, as they disbanded in 1981, yet their "influence-experience" in music echoes to this day.

Cut is their first album and it is without a doubt their best. It was released by Island, a historic label for Jamaican music, and produced by reggae producer Dennis Bovell, who had previously worked with the Pop Group. It's no coincidence that Caribbean sound influences are strong: dub, rocksteady, reggae atmospheres, but also funk blend with the girls' punk and naively nihilistic approach.
All the enthusiasm and overwhelming force of punk, combined with fierce and pressing bass lines and guitar riffs.
Their music is driven by an incredible expressive urgency and a delightfully genuine and indifferent approach, almost ingenuous: their melodies sometimes resemble lullabies, sometimes little marches, while Ari Upp's yelps sound like those of a child whose lollipop has been stolen (right, Bjork?!).
All the songs are imbued with a sense of lightheartedness and a great sense of humor, yet not shying away at all from themes of protest and denunciation against rampant consumerism, the music business, and English conformity.

The album opens with the hypnotic "Instant Hit", continues with the compulsive "So Tough", dedicated to Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, and then the venomous "Spend, Spend, Spend" and "Shoplifting".
The album finally makes room for a ska version cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" that wonderfully closes this gem, a raw and rudimentary jewel, which however continues to shine in the post-punk universe.