S-K's early albums comprise blasts of pure punk ("A Real Man" from their self-titled debut, "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" and "Call the Doctor" from Call The Doctor come to mind) with screeching noise ("Heart Attack"). While their first album has a few clunkers and is kind of uneven, their second and third albums may be their best. Call the Doctor and Dig Me Out are both soaked with punk rock energy delivered from a distinctly feminine perspective (although not so feminine that it alienates male listeners). Dig Me Out is truly where S-K hit their stride - loaded with classics, the record is a taut, tense package. "Words and Guitar", "Little Babies", "Dig Me Out", and "Dance Song 97" are my favorites.
After garnering significant attention with those releases, the band could have rested on their laurels and put out a carbon-copy of Dig Me Out. Instead, they chose to go their own direction, open up their sound, turn down the anger slightly, and release The Hot Rock. This album tears fans down the middle. Songs like "The Size of Our Love", "The Hot Rock", and "Burn, Don't Freeze" are cerebral, heart-felt, and somber. This record proved the band's range - not only could they rock out, they could ease back and give a message as well.
For my money, the final three records in the S-K catalogue are the band's finest. All Hands on The Bad One contains great song after great song - "All Hands On the Bad One", "Ironclad" (how many bands can you name that can write balls-to-the-wall rock and roll allegory songs likening arguments between hard-headed lovers to the battle between the Monitor and Merrimack? None besides S-K? Thought so.), "Youth Decay", "#1 Must Have", and my personal favorite, "Milkshake & Honey" - sexy, dirty, longing goodness. You won't find a better pure rock record from the 2000s.
After the events of 9/11, the ladies in Sleater-Kinney felt it necessary to look inward toward what was really important. By this time, Corin Tucker had a daughter, and living in a world where our safety was suddenly thrown into question colored the songs that comprise One Beat. "Far Away" is downright harrowing and the feeling of claustrophobia and xenophobia is palpable. It may be the finest post-9/11 song out there. Check out the first stanza:
"7:30am, nurse the baby on the couch
Telephone rings: Turn on the TV, watch the world exploding fast, don't leave the house"
and later - "Don't breathe the air today" and, finally, questioning the meaning of it all - "why can't I get along with you?" - while questioning the powers that be -
"And the President hides, while working men rush in and give their lives/I look to the sky and ask it not to rain on my family tonight"
The band's swan song, The Woods, allowed the grrrls to go out on top. A bruising, full-force gale of a record, it includes one of the finest songs of the past 15 years, "Jumpers", a song that perfectly shows off each of the member's strengths - Janet Weiss is a powerhouse of drumming fury - pounding the skins with precision. Carrie Brownstein's guitar lines are sharp and cutting - alternating between the bouncy bop of the body of the song to the ferocity of her solos on the breakdowns. Finally, there's Corin's howl. There is no finer vocal instrument in indie rock history - somewhere between the screech of Chris Cornell and the blues yelp of Janis Joplin, Tucker's voice slashes everything in its path. We shouldn't discount the power and the harrowing nature of the song itself - a solemn taken on suicide, there might not be a more heartbreaking line in rock history than "4 seconds was the longest wait". Here are the ladies in action, playing this song, on The Henry Rollins Show:
The Woods also contains the epic, 11 minute "Let's Call It Love" - a sprawling, lumbering, beast of a song, and one that would make Jimmy Page and Robert Plant green with envy.
When S-K announced their indefinite hiatus in 2006, the indie music community was shocked, but hopeful that the ladies would take a break, then reform quickly. Alas, to this day, Brownstein, Weiss, and Tucker have not come together in any way, shape, or form. What fans of the band do have now is a new record from Corin Tucker under the moniker of The Corin Tucker Band. 1,000 Years is NOT a Sleater-Kinney record (although fans of the band will not be able to help but feel a little nostalgic at bits and pieces of the album). It is a thoughtful, mature, and well-crafted group of 11 songs that reflect where Corin Tucker is mentally and emotionally today. Gone is the anger, present is the longing of missing one's spouse ("Half A World Away"), the dangers of estrangement after years ("Riley"), and thoughts on the recession ("Thrift Store Coats"). Listen to "Doubt" - it's the most S-K-ish of any of the songs - you get some of Tucker's yelp with a little S-K fire in the guitar solo. "Half A World Away" sounds like One Beat's "Combat Rock", but slowly burns without an explosive payoff. It's nice to have any transmissions from any of the ladies in Sleater-Kinney. 1,000 Years should tide us over until Brownstein and Weiss release the debut album from their new project, White Flag, sometime in 2011 on Merge Records.
In the meantime, we'll always have the fiery performances that Sleater-Kinney was so famous for. Check out some live goodness from the grrrls:
Sleater-Kinney Live in Vancouver, BC, 2006:
"You're No Rock and Roll Fun"
"O2"
"Oh!"
"Get Up"
Sleater-Kinney Live on KBOO Radio, Portland, OR - "Drinking From Puddles" Show:
"Light-Rail Coyote"
"Funeral Song"
"The Remainder"
"Far Away"
"Call the Doctor"
"Youth Decay"
Until next time, check out Corin Tucker's new record, 1,000 Years out on Kill Rock Stars now, remember the finest straight-ahead rock band of the last 15 years, Sleater-Kinney, and don't forget to listen...
