Sleater-Kinney
All Hands On The Bad One
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Sleater-Kinney
All Hands On The Bad One
Kill Rock Stars, 2000
RiYL: Nobody really sounds like Sleater-Kinney, but everybody knows what they sound like, right? |
So maybe it's the beginning of the end for Sleater-Kinney, because darn it, All Hands On The Bad One is the first album of theirs that has impressed me all the way through. Dig Me Out had lots of energy but a tragic lack of songs, while The Hot Rock had some decent hooks but tended to twitch rather than drive. And neither Sleater nor Kinney (I know their real names full well, I am only writing this to irritate people) was ever much for singing in key.
But here, the band has also made two vital musical realizations. First of all, having no bass player does not necessarily mean your songs have to sound thin and brittle. Second of all, the best way to utilize a really kick-ass drummer isn't to write songs that jerk around awkwardly like free-jazz Devo, it's to rock the fuck out.
All Hands On The Bad One, from "The Ballad Of Ladyman" onward, rocks the fuck out. It also features much better singing. As "You're No Rock 'N' Roll Fun" and the title track reveal, Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein have finally learned how to harmonize, and reducing the harshness of their vocal deliveries doesn't round off the edges to their songs, it makes them stronger.
Brownstein's guitar lines continue to careen all over the place, but Tucker and Janet Weiss have cohered into something approaching a rhythm section, giving the songs some serious kick. The tighter music keeps you from losing your concentration as often happened listening to the earlier records. Good thing, because the band continues to come up with smart lyrics, as on the hair-raising "Was It A Lie?," which is a pretty heady indictment of some guy who videotaped a woman's suicide and put it on the Internet. Hello, 21st century.
The band also indulges itself in straight-up new wave like "Milkshake N' Honey," moving fully into the pop realm earlier songs like "Dance Song '97" only tenuously hinted at. On The Hot Rock, Sleater-Kinney learned that not every song needs to knock you over. On All Hands On The Bad One, they figure out how to change up speeds and moods while still kicking ass at every turn. The second side isn't quite as good as the first, and the band still seems to have somewhat limited musical range with which to fill an entire an LP, but song by song, All Hands On The Bad One is one of 2000's best rock records.
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.