![The Woods [Bonus DVD]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0008FPIO0.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Release Date: 24 May, 2005
Audio CD
Tracks
- The Fox
- Wilderness
- What's Mine Is Yours
- Jumpers
- Modern Girl
- Entertain
- Rollercoaster
- Steep Air
- Let's Call It Love
- Night Light
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Rating 4.5
Good soundsI have always found Sleater-Kinney to be dull. I have listened to a few of their records. I have had to have an open mind. Especially since lead singer, Corin Tucker, is a distant cousin of mine. Members of this band also used to come into this store I worked in when I was in New York City, and they were always nice people. Then I look at this little book written by Rick Moody. He seems to be showing up a lot lately in music. Rick Moody is annoying. I don't need to hear his views. But this record is truly good stuff. "The Fox" and "Wilderness" are pretty cool. I used to think that their songs sounded like some annoying whine. It's growing on me. They seemed to have bunkered down and deleted all the unnecessary nonsense. They look a lot happier in these pictures too. There are better songs like "Jumpers." The song "Modern Girl" is almost like a folk song. It has some actual guitar picking. These gals are getting sophisticated. Sleater-Kinney has become one of the enduring bands of the time. Welcome Back CorinI'm not a huge S-K fan, indeed, I have the extremely unpopular opinion that Corin has never been able to match the intensity and emotion of her work with Heavens to Betsy whose Calculated LP is easily one of my 10 favorite albums of all time. A trip back east and a S-K show to see with their biggest fan, Mr. Wheeler, convinced me to give this album a try. I am absolutely blown away - easily the best album of 2005 - if distortion and white noise is your fancy, this album is perfect. The emotion in Corin's voice has not been heard like this for over 10 years. I was expecting a competent, more "seattle" type sound based on the interview with Mr. Vedder, but instead I heard the best album of the year, one that can be mentioned in the same breath as "Daydream Nation", "White Light / White Heat", "Psycho Candy", "In Utero" and all of the other noisy masterpieces. This album will turn a 10 minute drive into an hour drive in an attempt to listen to it through everytime. Well done ladies, and thank you Mr. Wheeler. I look forward to the Philadelphia show.The best (so far) of 2005This gets my early vote for one of the top CDs of 2005. Great post-punk music infused with 70's-era screaming guitar solos and Joplinesque vocals. These women ROCK, and this disc is heads above all the ineffectual Brit-pop, garage rock, etc. that litters the alternative airwaves. Like other reviewers, I'm not wild about the level of distortion on a few of the tracks...you and/or your friends will think there is something wrong with your speakers when you first listen to it. On the other hand, the effect may make you feel like you're listening to old vinyl with a dusty stylus, discovering prog rock for the very first time.
"The Fox" will try your ear a little...sort of a ghoulish, fingernails-on-the-blackboard, Brothers Grimm kind of thing that makes for an odd intro. Make it past that, and you'll be hooked, especially by solid rockers like "The Woods" and "Rollercoaster" or the sprawling, riff-laden anthem of "Let's Call it Love". Sandwiched between these, the melodic "Modern Girl" sounds smartly saccharine.
From low-fi whisperers like Iron and Wine to screaming banshees like Sleater-Kinney, the folks at SubPop Records continue to churn out some of the most relevant music of the decade. |
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