Silkworm: C/D?

It's a little funny since it isn't like they were on labels in the 90s that didn't have high-prtofiles, Matador & Touch & Go, and they were/are close bros with bands with a much higher profile (Pavement, Bedhead, etc) but for whatever reason they never seem to crack into that next level and I've never been sure why. People I know who I always thought should really like them never did and people I wouldn't guess would be fans were crazy fanatics.

I saw them a ton in the 90s/00s and while there weren't always huge crowds if there were 20 in Mpls, probably ten of them had driven 5+ hours to be there.

People seem to either not like them or not know anything about them or they feel like they are the greatest/most underrated band ever and there is no in-between.

Eh I kind of get it... They don't have an identifiable "sound" like Pavement (slacker rock with catchy and/or memorable beautiful melodies) or Bedhead (tasteful slowcore that swells and unfurls). Comparatively it's more of just a straightforward "rock" sound. More dedicated listening is needed for them I think.

as much as i love the sound of their records, i feel like their pop sensibility / popularity may have been stunted by albini at times... underneath that buried vox and abrasion there's some charming lyrics, but they're indecipherable at best half the time...

It's a little funny since it isn't like they were on labels in the 90s that didn't have high-prtofiles, Matador & Touch & Go, and they were/are close bros with bands with a much higher profile (Pavement, Bedhead, etc) but for whatever reason they never seem to crack into that next level and I've never been sure why. People I know who I always thought should really like them never did and people I wouldn't guess would be fans were crazy fanatics.

the press department at T&G were some of the best and sweetest people ever to work in the business but T&G's entire approach to press was radically different from what was then becoming indie industry standard. Pavement, inside Matador & with -- what was it? Atlantic? money in the background, had people consciously thinking "weirder things have happened in recent years than for these guys to get really famous." At T&G fame / the next level / breaking through was not a concern; putting out good records and having them be part of the conversation was. AFAIK that was the sum of Silkworm's interest, too; the whole T&G scene was deeply suspicious of mainstream acceptance, and they weren't alone in this sentiment, but I think an an exponent of it they were certainly the biggest player to hold onto it.

I think that's a pretty apt description from what I understand.

For me, as a big fan, it's more of a feeling of, damn, look at all of the love Pavement is getting right now. Silkworm absolutely deserve to be getting at least half of this shine, they've earned it.

i think there's another thing about silkworm that was true for me at least and may be true for some of you guys--i first heard firewater in high school and did not get it *at all* unlike pavement or any number of other bands of that era and ilk. for me to actually get silkworm, i needed to be in my early 20s, dealing with a recent breakup and some related ennui, needed to have started drinking and going out and wondering why things weren't always as fun as it seemed like they should have been. when i was feeling that way and started listening to developer, it instantly clicked, the rest of their albums clicked, and i never looked back. basically without a certain small amount of lived experience tim and andy's lyrics just don't land, but once you've had that they land harder than almost anyone's.

i bought firewater when i was 16 based on a review in puncture magazine and i didn't get it at first either. the albini "live" production was weird to me, there are a lot of songs on that album, etc. i think it was just that physical media era thing of "well i bought this CD, i guess i should keep listening to it even if it doesn't make sense to me" where i kept putting it on until it stuck with me. i'm sure i still wasn't connecting with the lyrics on an emotional level as a teenager but i came to love the sound of the album and the songs.

the first time I put on developer I rolled my eyes and thought it sounded like a parody of monotonous 90s indie. it was the darker songs like “don’t look back” and the poppier stuff on lifestyle that pulled me in

https://thecrustbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/fight-songs

unreleased crust brothers? five "fight songs" for NFL teams, around 10-20 seconds each

bizarre, never heard the Cars covers either.

Fun. Comedy Minus One is great but I really wish they didn't change the artwork for their Silkworm reissues. I don't like when album art is just basically a press photo, especially when it's needlessly replacing something recognizable and inspired. Not worth the only benefit of immediately knowing it's NOT an original.

i'm guessing the remaining band members had some input tho

Fun. Comedy Minus One is great but I really wish they didn't change the artwork for their Silkworm reissues. I don't like when album art is just basically a press photo, especially when it's needlessly replacing something recognizable and inspired. Not worth the only benefit of immediately knowing it's NOT an original.

― Evan, Friday, 3 February 2023 18:18 (twenty-three minutes ago) link

I believe in the cases of In The West and Libertine it had to do with not having access to the original artwork and jah I'm sure the band had input. The reissue artwork of Chokes! is the same bar the label logo.

Curious about the Firewater and Developer reissues coming sometime in the future...

Yeah it's just disappointing, whatever the reason. No big deal though.

https://www.comedyminusone.com/2023/08/03/deep-tunnel-project-members-of-silkworm-and-tar-join-comedy-minus-one-for-debut-album/

Excited for that, though I wish Comedy Minus One wasn't so CD averse lately (but that's more my issue than theirs).

i'm sure the guy would probably show you all the boxes of unsold cds but yeah wish it were an option more often

it's frustring the live clip they show the soundguy has literally forgotten to turn on the vocals then he "fixes" it to barely audible.

Oh yeah, not casting judgement on them at all, I get it. Just personally would have bought more titles from them in the past if it was an option. I got all the Bottomless Pit ones, which I loved.

fuck yeah the silkworm thread's open. party at the silkworm thread

Crust Brothers "Marquee Mark" physical object original pressing quietly reappeared on bandcamp friday (7 remaining as of posting):

https://thecrustbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/marquee-mark

goin to acuapulcooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

https://mintmile.bandcamp.com/album/roughrider

Nina Nastasia providing guest vocals on one track = ums catnip x2

haha no shit! thanks for sharing

"people who text with Steve Albini" rock

accurate!

kids these days are all Shoegaze this, Slowcore that, while overlooking what they REALLY need, the cure for what ails em: Missoula, Montana indie rock band Silkworm

— keegan (@FranziaMom) December 20, 2023

nice to see some love for silkworm. raging bull is an all-timer

i love the songs on libertine but it's serious earache to listen to on headphones, even by albini's standards. it actually sounds ass backwards to my ears; everything that should stand out in the songs is pushed to right the back. as spoken upthread, i wonder how this band would have done with a just marginally more forward production at times...

I feel like later on they did

if they were ever going to have a minor hit it was going to be this and I don't see how the production or mix could be better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9nQ8OARDcg

a lot of those earlier albini productions sound dated to me now - kind of muffled or flat or something? like i've never enjoyed how those classic pixies albums sound. sometime in the mid-90s things improved, the drums sound more alive on albums like firewater and at action park.

yeah I know what you mean it does feel like he makes some kind of breakthrough

or honestly maybe some of the bigger paydays meant he could buy better gear

this probably belongs on a Tar thread but i couldn't find one: https://deeptunnelproject.bandcamp.com/album/deep-tunnel-project

Deep Tunnel Project is two former members of Tar, another guitarist, and Tim Midyett on bass. Rick Rizzo of Eleventh Dream Day plays guitar on a song.

Listening now, there are definitely peaks and valleys, but there are some good songs on there. Very much a Chicago indie rock band album, unsurprisingly. Not very far off from Silkworm or (especially) Bottomless Pit and the singer sounds a lot like Andy Cohen sometimes.

Thanks for the heads up, right up my alley. Just grabbed the CD version.

(fwiw I'm glad you posted it here, I might not have clicked on a Tar thread)

They even do a Breaking Circus cover, the record should come with a little fedora

feel like this is a good place to mention that Midyett's Rub is really delicious, thanks to whoever mentioned that

Yr welcome!

I hate this band. Not trying to start nothin', I just do.

You don't deserve them obviously.

I am trying to start somethin'.

lol

The drumming alone elevates it above 90% of other bands.

it's still possible that ice station zebra is the greatest song ever written

indeed

the new Mint Mile album is good

xpost one of the many things I love about that song is that it totally wouldn't work if he didn't pronounce it zeb-brah