Sleater-Kinney
The Woods
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Sleater-Kinney
The Woods
Sub Pop, 2005
RiYL: Led Zeppelin, Fugazi, L7 |
Over the course of six albums for Kill Rock Stars, the band's two guitarists developed a distinctive interplay that might not have been possible in another arrangement. Corin Tucker generally played block chords while Carrie Brownstein overlayed single-line melodies that often functioned as bass and lead guitar at the same time. Throughout, drummer Janet Weiss was there to keep the rhythm operating solidly.
The band came to maturity when Weiss joined in time for Dig Me Out. By All Hands On The Bad One, they had things down to a science. But their last album, One Beat, showed that if even if the fans weren't getting tired of the formula, Sleater-Kinney itself could use a new direction. The Woods doesn't just represent a shift to a larger label -- it represents an entire new philosophy of sound for Sleater-Kinney. Gone for the most part are the delicately composed, minimalist two-guitar compositions. In their place is a massive wall of sound that is going to turn at least some listeners off from the beginning. Producer Dave Fridmann is most famous for his work with the Flaming Lips, and the same sort of running hum exists on this record as longtime Lips fans would be accustomed to.
When the songs are strong, they break through. "The Fox," which approaches metal, succeeds with Brownstein's deep bends and a theatrical Tucker vocal. "Jumpers," which unusually for Sleater-Kinney is sung in close harmony, is a chilling minor-key song that mirrors its narrator's desperation with a droning Brownstein guitar riff. "Rollercoaster" boasts an awesome riff and a sense of humor; one is these is more common than the other when it comes to Sleater-Kinney. "What's Mine is Yours" has the album's catchiest chorus and a guitar break for Brownstein where the others pull out and she gets to play with pedals for a few minutes. They've come a long way from Call The Doctor, indeed. Elsewhere, however, the new sound rather overwhelms the material. Louder guitars don't make "Wilderness" sound any less thin. The instrumental performances on "Entertain" lack the conviction of Tucker and Brownstein's vocals. The two-part, single-take closer "Let's Call It Love/Night Light," nearly 15 minutes of chorusless pounding and thumping, really wears on the patience before long.
When Weiss is performing fills instead of keeping the beat, the normally unnoticed lack of a bottom end in Sleater-Kinney really sticks out. A more welcome experiment is Brownstein's sad little ballad "Modern Girl," which is a welcome change in the middle of the record from all the thrashing.
Fans of Sleater-Kinney will probably be willing to follow them in this new direction. To be fair, all of their strengths are still in evidence here -- Weiss's great playing, Brownstein's idiosyncratic inventiveness, both guitarist's distinctive, love-'em-or-hate-'em singing voices. If you're not already familiar with the group, though, The Woods isn't a great place to start. It's dark in there, and easy to get lost.
MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.