Loved by those who were lucky to hear them, Slovenly formed when Saccharine Trust drummer Rob Holzman put together the band Slovenly Peter after his departure from Trust in 1981. The "Peter" was eventually dropped, and the band released its debut on the Minutemen's New Alliance label in 1985. That debut, After the Original Style, was quickly overshadowed by the band's next three releases, the well-received Thinking of Empire (1986), Riposte (1987), and We Shoot for the Moon (1989). Having switched to SST, the band had put together a mélange of sounds ranging from the Fall and Wire to the Red Crayola and Captain Beefheart. Their final release, 1992's Highway to Hanno's, was also released by SST. After that, bassist Scott Ziegler, drummer Rob Holzman, and guitarist/vocalist Tom Watson formed Overpass and released two albums as such.