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Sleater Kinney The Woods Released in 2005 9.8/10 Styles Psychedelic Rock Riot Grrl Power Rock Song Highlights The Fox Steep Air Let's Call It Love |
Sleater Kinney's major driving strength has always been their infectious energy - on their last release, the exceptional One Beat, the trio managed to make an album that was so packed with upbeat urgency, that it managed to carry across as an almost impossibly catchy collection of songs. This year sees the release of the group's 7th album, and The Woods is by far their most ambitious and overtly experimental release yet. From the thunderous riff which opens the album, everything feels different to what a Sleater Kinney fan would expect. Very little about The Woods is thrashy or urgent. The riff is a noisy, fedback-heavy swagger of pure attitude, which simply oozes confidence. As Corin Tucker's vocals cut off the blast, the changes continue - where Tucker's vocals were once characterized by that same upbeat urgency, here she sings with the slow, drawn out holler of a lead singer who is absolutely owning her audience. Nothing can stop you from being absorbed in the album's massive, stadium-rock sound, and from all this attitude, you'd suspect that Sleater Kinney know it. The Woods was produced by Dave Friddman (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), and for all the album's bombast, you certainly wouldn't expect it. The production feels very open, as though Friddman has given the music plenty of space to breathe, and as such there's a very "live" feel about it. A better choice of production technique couldn't have been made - The Woods is pure, massive arena-rock, and trying to confine such a spectacle to a more crisp recording would've been a huge waste. Constantly bathed in distortion and feedback, the guitars sound extremely murky and noisy, as they reverberate and echo over the top of mix (giving them a distinctly 70s-rock feel), while Janet Weiss' drumming cuts through the middle like a thunderstorm of rolls and cymbals. It's an amazing feat of production wizardry - I haven't heard many albums as noisy yet accessable (and just plain rocking) as The Woods, and Friddman deserves full credit for making it turn out just right. Then there's the guitar solos, something which Sleater Kinney have never really used in previous albums. With The Woods feeling so supremely confident, the band see fit to stretch their self-indulgence into this area, and the results are some of the most joyously immense solos you'll hear on any record this year. The unquestionable highlight is the massive guitar freak-out tacked onto the end of "Let's Call It Love," which sees the song stretch out well past the ten minute mark with an encore of psych-rock bliss. Highlights are numerous, as the degree of consistency throughout the album is exceptional. Almost every track features some sort of hook that will leave most listeners dumbfounded, especially the grungy drone of "The Fox" or the ferocious assault of "Steep Air." Meanwhile, the dual-guitar attack and irresistable drum-work on "What's Mine is Yours" and "Rollercoaster" gives them a touch of the upbeat surge that personified Sleater Kinney's prior albums, without losing any of that wonderful stadium-rock power. The Woods is a phenominal achievement for Sleater Kinney. Everything about the album feels like such a collosal event that, once you've listened to it, everything else may come across sounding a bit small. This is easily the best thing I've heard so far this year, and is an early favourite for best album of 2005. Buy it. |