'Breadcrumb Trail:' A documentary about Slint

There's a charming moment toward the beginning of Breadcrumb Trail, director Lance Bangs' documentary film about the band Slint, regarding a technique that eludes easy explanation. Guitarist David Pajo and drummer/singer Britt Walford are asked: what are harmonics? Professor Wikipedia tells us that "harmonics are most often played by lightly placing a finger on a string of a guitar at a nodal point of one of the overtones." The resulting note is akin to a high-pitched bell, an overtone isolated from the fundamental sound of the open string. If this reads as jargon, just know that the second and third notes of Slint's 1991 album Spiderland are harmonics, and that they sound pure and beautiful.

Pajo and Walford can't quite define harmonics on the spot. This is a good metaphor for Slint's existence: it eludes easy explanation. Just as the mystery of acoustics makes science seem like magic, the way four kids from Louisville, Kentucky produced some of the most singular American music ever defies simple storytelling.

Slint's music was generated over the course of a few years in the late '80s/early '90s and documented on two albums. The band broke up before almost anyone outside of their hometown was aware they existed. As years went on, the haunting, intimate, pensive music on Spiderland steadily earned new listeners, who in turn became devotees, and then obsessives. The absence of activity from this band only heaped mystery upon a mystery. Who created this work? Where did they find their inspiration? Where did they go? Breadcrumb Trail shines some light on a few, but not all, of the relevant questions.

• Will Oldham
• Slint

The first half of the film has the feel of a screwball comedy. The initial lineup of Slint met while barely in their teens. They encountered one another playing in hardcore bands with names like Languid and Flaccid (that's one band name), Squirrel Bait, and Maurice. Walford and singer/guitarist Brian MacMahon were inseparable, developing the kind of madcap in-jokes that teenage punks are wont to develop. Pajo was the young craftsman, practicing nine hours a day, bringing an aggressive musicianship to the project. Since Slint, Pajo has played with Tortoise, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Interpol, among others. Bassist Ethan Buckler was rattled by a disappointing recording experience with Steve Albini on the group's first album, Tweez - he left, allowing Todd Bashear to take his place.

A goofball pall is cast over Tweez: for example, the songs are inexplicably named after the band members' parents. The seriousness of intent heard on Spiderland, by contrast, is absolute. The music is at once sensitive and muscular. In the film, the band gives a nod to the Minutemen for inspiring their move towards a cleaner guitar tone. The album's innovations arguably gave birth to the '90s math rock subgenre and laid the enduring groundwork for the vast dynamics of post-rock. Additionally, MacMahon's disarmingly personal singing on the song "Washer" simultaneously precedes and surpasses all practitioners of so-called emo. If Nevermind was the mass-culture starting pistol of what would shape guitar-based music thereafter, Spiderland was the slow-burning fire that engulfed and inspired almost as many listeners. That gradual building of a fanbase precipitated a reunion in 2005, and the band continues to tour sporadically.

In spite of the solemn photorealism of Spiderland, Bangs' film is frequently a riot. Walford's parents, subjected to endless rehearsals in their basement, are sweet as pie and flush with pride over their son's unlikely legend status. Anecdotes, told via recollections from the band plus underground vets including Albini, James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol), Drew Daniel (Matmos), and David Yow (the Jesus Lizard) abound. In particular, the look at Britt Walford's wild imagination and personal narrative is likely to surprise even the fanboys.

For followers of the band, Breadcrumb Trail is a no-brainer. For the curious or uninitiated, it's a fascinating look at how a combination of determination (the band deliberately set out to make music without precedent) and isolation (Louisville, y'all) can shape a creative process. For young musicians, it should be mandatory. Slint's story is inspiring beyond its musical influence. The film's unspoken message is that a few young, somewhat hyperactive, and deviously creative individuals could band together and change the world around them. That kind of magic might not be easily defined, but if it can be captured. It's rare, and to be treasured.

Breadcrumb Trail $8. 8:30 p.m. Tonight (Thurs., April 3). The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.