11:04 AM: Day Six: Sleater-Kinney - The Woods



As far as all girl groups go, Sleater-Kinney has always been more Slits than Bangles, but on The Woods, they're downright scary - think Patti Smith covering Sonic Youth. I haven't heard this album enough yet to form a solid opinion on it, but it's definitely a completely new, heavier sound for the band, and they pull it off rather well. I'm not sure why they went so Lo-fi, though, especially with this being their first release on Sub Pop, a label that could easily afford to give Sleater-Kinney the biggest recording budget they've ever had.

From Subpop.com:

The Woods is the title of the new Sleater-Kinney album and it's their
seventh full-length release. It was produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming
Lips, Mercury Rev, Low) and reveals a very different side to the band.
Like many things with sevens on it, it features an itch, a need to try
new things. Sometimes people get scared by new things, which is one of
the reasons people are disappointing. This is to say that, like
Sleater-Kinney, you should not be afraid of new things: honest-to-god
guitar heroics/solos; new depth and heaviness to the songs; fuzzed out
lows cropping up in places formerly reserved for staccato highs. All of
this surrounding and infiltrating the constant in the Sleater-Kinney
program: three, breathing, playing as one with unfettered passion and
emotion. They want history, they want time, they want art, they want to
deal with culture, they have demands, they have needs, they have vision,
they have aspirations. And now they have The Woods. Luckily, so do we.

01 The Fox
02 Wilderness
03 What's Mine is Yours
04 Jumpers
05 Modern Girl
06 Entertain
07 Rollercoaster
08 Steep Air
09 Let's Call It Love
10 Night Light