In the middle of the Replicator’s very good tour journal is a little snippet about S-K. Complimentary comments for the ladies from a fellow musician.
I am not disappointed.
I’ve seen Sleater-Kinney five and a half times now — once right before Dig Me Out came out, once after it did and the critics started salivating about them, and once for just about every album since then. They never have let me down; I’ve seen them in record stores, tiny clubs, big clubs, outside. They are just an awesome band.
I haven’t heard all of their new album yet, but the songs I’ve heard from it are good. One is very bluesy almost and has a sort of AC/DC vibe that I get into. Many of the songs feature more singing by Carrie than Corin, and Carrie is using more pedals than before, for texture and whatnot. The newer songs are almost more… angular? Yes, angular, and they even have some different time signatures and neat syncopation. I like.
S-K play with the structures and dynamics of the older songs as well. For instance, on “Words and Guitar”, the verses are brought nearly to a whisper before the choruses explode. Additionally, the structure of hits like “I Want to be your Joey Ramone” and “Dig Me Out” is stretched out, extrapolated upon and generally left room to grow. It’s a wonderful thing to hear and they pull it off very well. Bravo to S-K for keeping it real.
Filed under: Reviews