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Album Details

• Artist: Sleater-Kinney
• Album: The Woods
• Label: Sub Pop
• Year of Release: 2005
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2005-06-27

The Sleater-Kinney girls have gotten rough and dirty with the help of producer extraordinaire Dave Fridmann. As a side note, Dave was not a huge Sleater-Kinney fan and didn't really care for any of their past albums. Now that he has gotten his hands on them he has pulled out the unthinkable from Janet Weiss, Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein. I was reading the interview with the girls and Eddie Vedder and he stated that The Woods actually blew the speakers out of his car. Now whether or not he had it cranked or not is left to be determined but after hearing the distortion on album opener "The Fox" you can't help but wonder if it is possible. It is one of the rowdiest most rocking songs that Sleater-Kinney have ever put out. Then they easily switch gears into the catchy "Wilderness" with some of the coolest guitar sounds ever. Corin Tucker's vocals have morphed into something completely unique. My favorite track is the fun and guttural "Entertain". Some may cringe at the thought of an 11 minute Sleater-Kinney opus but that's what we get on "Let's Call It Love". I must say that I was a little intimidated but the song ends up have the diversity to carry it through without instilling boredome. The whole album sounds like it was recorded on overdrive. It's not the crispest the girls have sounded but obviously Dave had other ideas than crispness. It is raw and man is it good. The Woods is ten of the best tracks these girls have penned and this is apparently a new beginning for the threesome. I would have liked to hear the Woods with a clean production instead of the pseudo lo-fi sound that Fridmann chose but that's just me.

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