The Slip
[#] Eisenhower (2006)
Hippie-dippie jazz dreaming brought down back to Earth for us mortals.
Reviewed August 31, 2026
"He made me embrace simplicity in my songwriting," Slip frontman Brad Barr reminisced about Surprise Me Mr. Davis bandmate Nathan Moore. "I had to make my guitar solos say more in a shorter amount of time." Paired with a newfound desire for looser, more joyous performances led The Slip to anchor their overgrown jam rock with stellar results on their magnum opus Eisenhower. Memorable musicmaking is all about contrast, and the mix of their formidable improv chops and these accessible, windy, wispy indie rock tunes gives dimension to the latter and hooks to the former—an absolutely delicious pairing.
Like Built to Spill on Keep it Like a Secret, it's not so much The Slip dumbing down their music as it is tightening up what makes it compelling in the first place. These guys continue to play like a hydra, able to take the rollicking, nostalgic "Children of December" towards a surging finish or carrying "Even Rats" and "Life in Disguise" as far on the cool breeze as they need to go. Jams still happen, of course, but with such sturdy, evocative songs, like the ode to falling behind "Airplane/Primitive" or chilly piano balladry like "If One of Us Should Fall", they justify all the time in the wilderness they take.
| Essential: | "Airplane/Primitive", "Mothwing Bite", "Paper Birds" |
|---|---|
| Quintessential: | "Even Rats" |
| Non-Essential: | "First Panda in Space" |
| Rating: |  |