52 Albums That Shaped My Life - #49

Sleater Kinney – The Woods

(Sub Pop, 2005 )

Buy the album here

In 2005 if you had told me that the only band from the various Pacific Northwest music scenes to make it in to my top 52 albums list would be Sleater Kinney, I would have said, “Huh? What? Kenickie?” or something to that effect. I am most definitely not a lifelong Sleater Kinney fan. I wouldn't even describe myself as a fan of indie rock, punk influences or not. However, my love for this album now balances the youthful foolishness of overlooking this band, while the super distorted noise of The Woods does away with my preconceived notions of how indie rock bands sound.

In the vein of Crowbar's Odd Fellows Rest in my last post, Sleater Kinney's sound on this album is bursting at the seams, clinging by fingertips to its own perceived limits as fuzzed-out guitars smash into rumbling drums and raw, unleashed vocals. Albums that show their artists at full tilt, seemingly throwing all of their passion (and volume) at every note, will be a recurring theme in this list, and it is Sleater Kinney's ability to do this while retaining incredible melody, vicious hooks, and satisfying details that makes this album stand out. The trio of Carrie Brownstein (guitar), Corin Tucker (guitar), and Janet Weiss (drums) know how to complement each other at every turn with their vocals, and the album has the “live” feel that every fan of Led Zeppelin will not stop telling you about. That immediacy in the sound makes the listener feel like they're right in the middle of a gig in some sweaty plaid-filled club, pitting it up with riot grrrl fans finding their release.

The simple percussive riff of opener “The Fox” ends up being an afterthought because of the unbelievable screams that seem to fly in from all directions. Some of them are impressively melodic while others sound like they've been squeezed out in anguish – either way the sensation is of having no limits, escaping whatever holds you and not concerning yourself overly with the results. Luckily for us, songs like “Wilderness”, “What's Mine Is Yours”, and “Rollercoaster” are all great examples of the amazing songs that pure rock fury can produce. The slightly more delicate lead guitar in “Wilderness” is offset by phenomenally aggressive drumming and overlapping vocals, before some heavily distorted blues guitar provides a natural transition to the tortured tones of “What's Mine Is Yours”. The lighter, upbeat nature of “Rollercoaster” (listen to that cowbell) even gives way to pounding drums that would overwhelm the song if it weren't for the tuneful, harmonised backing vocals of Carrie and Janet.

All this distortion, heaviness, and aggression does not mean that Sleater Kinney have thrown these songs at the wall just to see what sticks. The album works as a whole precisely because moments of relative quiet that allow the listener to reorient themselves and consider the recurring themes. “Jumpers” opens up with an eery scene-setting verse that places the emptiness of modern city living against the backdrop of suicidal jumpers from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Lyrics like, “There is a bridge adored and famed/The Golden spine of engineering/Whose back is heavy/With my weight” are a stark reminder that Sleater Kinney's rock 'n' roll isn't just about having a good time, but speaking the truth about modern life, women's place in society, and contemplating death. “Modern Girl” is the album's quietest track, infused with harmonica and gather-round naturalistic singing, picking up the disaffection of modern life found in “Jumpers”, and bringing a new sardonic tone to it that pulls the listener in to the world of following track and storming, mid-album highlight, “Entertain”:

Reality is the new fiction they say

Truth is truer these days, truth is man-made

If you're here 'cause you want to be entertained

Please go away

But it's the pure honesty of the album that shines through. Sleater Kinney sign off with the passionate, truth-telling, epic duo of “Let's Call It Love” and “Night Light” in which we find all the bubbling anger, love, and questioning that informs each scream, riff, and drum beat of The Woods. The drumming and singing on the chorus of “Let's Call It Love” alone should have you prepping for the fight that Sleater Kinney obliquely threaten throughout the album and call “love” in this distorted epic. After the dust of that fight settles during the roughly 7 minute jam at the end of “Let's Call It Love”, “Night Light” comes in to soothe us with its beautifully sung verse, more overtly catchy chorus, and gently fading tune:

How do you do it

This bitter and bloody world

Keep it together and shine for your family

How do you do it

With visions of worst to come

Live in the present

And spin off the rays of the sun

It's the sound of a band who have just given you everything. And it was the last sound we heard from them for 10 years. Except it took me until 2010 to even listen to them....