Sleater Kinney - The Woods (2005)

Genre- Indie Rock, Punk, Riot Grrrl

Sleater Kinney is an all female 3 piece band. They have spent most of their career on the awesome Kill Rock Stars label. The Woods is their first full length release on the legendary Sub Pop label. This is a definite move up in the indie rock world, but certainly not a sellout as Sub Pop has produced some of the best bands of the last 15 years. The Woods was produced by Dave Fridmann, who is known for producing spacious albums, such as Mercury Rev, Mogwai and the Flaming Lips. It is hard to believe this album was produced by Fridmann. The Woods is raw with heavy aggressive guitars, pounding drums and raw snarling vocals by Corin Tucker. However, upon closer listening you can hear the depth of the music that only Fridmann can bring. Somehow Fridmann was able to add texture to Sleater Kinney’s energetic sound. Lyrically, this album is cathartic, passionate and empowering, which sits nicely with the buzz saw guitars and propulsive beats. The song Let’s Call it Love is an eleven minute adventure that ranges from punk to 1970’s jam band. It is a bit self indulgent, but a nice departure and fun to listen to. This is Sleater Kinney’s best album to date. It seems after eleven years and seven albums they have hit their musical prime. Notable songs are The Fox, Jumpers, Let’s Call it Love

Rating- 7/10