Svelt...

Svelt was one of many projects for the brothers Chris and Nate Slusarenko, who have made a name for themselves among the Portland, OR music scene and more for the past couple decades or so. Svelt might even look like a blip on the radar these days, during their brief period together the band released a full-length album titled Souvenir through Schizophonic Records in 1996 along with an EP that same year called The Shetland Sessions also through Schizophonic. The band also contributed a track to the It’s Finally Christmas compilation, which I sadly don’t have.

Svelt was formed after the brothers previous band Sprinkler disbanded, who are also worth checking out as well. Their one and only album Souvenir is a fine slab of rock that sort of had a carry over sound from their days on Sub Pop while with Sprinkler. The music on Souvenir in particular contained a larger sound that was partly due to the constant wallop of N. Slusarenko’s drumming. The band also didn’t shy away from poppy melodies, in fact both Souvenir and their EP Shetland Sessions are full of them, but the band worked in a few interesting twists and turns that often times couldn’t be found in the more mainstream alt-rock bands of the time.

Souvenir:
Svelt – Very Real [MP3]
Svelt – Shrunken Head [MP3]

Shetland Sessions:
Svelt – Ditty [MP3]

Nate Slusarenko played in a number of bands with his brother Chris along the way and has done artwork and design for various things over the years. Chris Slusarenko formed his own record label called Off Records. Chris played bass with Guided by Voices from 2003-2004 and is one half of the duo The Takeovers with Robert Pollard. Chris was recently named as part of Pollard’s newly announced band Boston Spaceships as well, which plan on having an album out sometime later this year.

For those interested in picking up material by Svelt, both the album and the EP are still available through CD Baby, so head on over there to pick those up. Highly recommended.