Summing the Approach

Some eight years since Slint's Spiderland forever altered the indie-rock landscape, it's arguable that any valid derivations can still be fashioned from its blueprints. To be sure, Ativin's members never denied Slint's influence on their music. But over the course of an EP, a single and a full-length album, Ativin moved well beyond the pummelling soft-to-loud transitions of Slint and toward a highly distinctive blend of treated, interlocked guitar grooves, firm rhythmic manuevers and electronically-enhanced atmospheres.

All of these elements are served at precisely the right temperature on Summing The Approach, a posthumous four-song EP recorded by Steve Albini that serves as a satisfying final chapter to the Ativin novella. Summing does not abandon the calling cards of 1998's dreamy German Water.

But it does mark a return to Ativin's more awkward side, especially on "Cy," which moves through several distinct sections with little regard for the listener's sense of balance. After an off-kilter intro, the band locks into a great, dark groove. An abrupt stop fades into the submerged melody of "Riding And Roaming," before another sudden change spins into a disorienting mix of Dan Burton's "high" tones and Chris Carothers' vaguely menacing low-end assignment.

As it evolved, Ativin developed a certain psychedelic edge, indulged here with a variety of tape effects. The humming noise barely audible underneath the title track's minimalist riff foreshadows the next transition, while the guitar tones on the beautiful "My Eyes Of Yours" ring like a wind chime in slow-motion. It makes for grade-A thinking music, and proof that you don't have to reinvent the Slintwheel to enjoy a ride on the post-everything express train.