The last surviving band of Olympia’s riot grrl wave, are still kicking and kicking strong. No longer just an underground favorite for those in the know, this band has grown exponentially, taking their place alongside the stadium filling boy rockers.
Prior to its completion the Woods seemed like an album in jeopardy; the band had parted ways with the riot grrrl label Kill Rock Stars after ten long years; opting instead for Subpop, known for first signing the key members of the grunge rock movement. The album’s producer David Fridman is also known more for working with the likes of indie rock males, not riot grrrl royalty.
Packaging alone, Subpop is a much different affair than that of their Kill Rock Stars releases. Gone are the charming lyric sheet typos and misnumbered track listings. Instead the record comes with plenty of streamlined, over designed graphics of the band, which would seem at home in Urban Outfitters.
Echoing its streamlined packaging, the record is indeed smoother and evolved, and does to an extent echo the retro rock stylings of the moment: the songs take guitar solo breaks, and one track even stretches for a mammoth 11 minutes. Even with this considered however, the band seems to be returning to their roots. While One Beat and All hands on the Bad One seemed to have the group abandoning their early aggression, the Woods is reminiscent of both Dig Me Out and Call the Doctor, records that put Sleater-Kinney on the map.
The album opens with “The Fox”, an allegorical tale of a fox tempting a duck. As far opening tracks go, “The Fox” is not exactly an open door, neither in sound or lyrics. Compared to the rest of the album the track offers little else to less seasoned listeners than proof that Corin Tucker’s vocals really can shatter glass.
Thankfully the album rolls soon enough into its gems, “What’s Mine is Yours” resounds with the same intensity seen on Dig Me Out, while following it is “Jumpers”, which echoes the vocal and lyrical strength of Call the Doctor. Both songs skillfully make use of dramatic pause, and undeniably infectious choruses.
Entertain, which lyrically resembles that of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, gives criticism to the all sound no content music of the retro sounding cock rock stadium acts.
You come around looking 1984
You’re such a bore, 1984
Nostalgia, you’re using it like a whore
It’s better than before
You come around sounding 1972
You did nothing new with 1972
Where is the ‘fuck you’?
The balance of new and old sounds is what keeps this record compelling, somehow this trio has mixed a hard rock flavor in with the same unbridled female aggression that made us pick up their records in the first place. This wise change in sound will let music fans sleep soundly, knowing that Sleater-Kinney will be saving us from the empty minds of rock for years to come. |