Reprinted from my Donewaiting column, part two for night two
by me, Han Q Duong:
The second night was reasonably similar to the first. Instead of Davies vs. Dresch, the warmup duty belonged to the local band Radio Vago. The last time I saw Radio Vago they were opening for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they put in a similar performance here, despite changing out lead singers during that time. They play mostly downbeat, keyboard oriented dance tunes with fits and bursts of guitar noise crashing through. I think the noise element needs to be toned down because it has the tendency to overpower the rest of the band.
Quasi’s second night set started off with a drum solo and Sam Coomes humping his keyboard. Why build up to the humping? Just get it out of the way, they say. The set was decidely more song oriented and a lot more effective than the first night. Songs like “Good Times” and “It’s Raining” really popped, and Weiss beat her snare like it stole her wallet. The drums were mixed really loudly, so her blast beats damn near took my head off. There were even moments where Janet was going off so much that it put her partner in a daze, as if he was wondering “how can she hit drums faster than I can hit my keys?” Coomes seemed a little bit confused and out of sorts all night, which is just about perfect for the manic carnival feel of his keyboard work. Unfortunately, he didn’t do any head stands on it, which is the only thing I’ve never seen Sam Coomes do to his keyboard.
Like Quasi, Sleater-Kinney’s second night set also featured a lot less improvisation and was generally tighter all-around. The set started off with an inspired run of quick hitting songs, but a guitar cable fried during “Sympathy” and put a downer on everything. This is the third or fourth time I’ve seen this happen to Carrie Brownstein, and at this point I am willing to pony up my own personal cash to buy her a cordless radio unit for her guitar, because this constant technical difficulty thing is bullshit. I understand this is probably more frustrating for her than me, but COME ON! Uh, I’ll also reserve the right to be a total indian-giver on this if those wireless systems cost thousands of dollars.
If pressed, I’d have to pick the first show as the superior one. It was a little looser and a little sloppier, but I love all the instrumental stuff, and at this point I’ve seen Sleater-Kinney so many times that hearing “Turn It On” or “Dig Me Out” doesn’t have quite the impact that they used to. The crowd was considerably hotter for the second night though, plus they did a cover of the MC5’s “American Ruse,” so there’s also that.
The best thing about both nights was getting to hear the new songs. “I Don’t Care” is bratty and the poppiest of the new batch. “Everything” is based on a heavy, grinding riff and features a harsh clipped vocal from Brownstein and some top notch wailing from Tucker. I was standing pretty close to the speaker stack and the during the bridge of “Everything” I felt like Corin’s voice was going through my eardrum and coming out the other side. “Bomp” is the down and dirtiest of the new material and and Tucker brings back the scratchy, blood-curdling screams that have been mostly forgotten since Call The Doctor.
Of all the new songs, “Entertain” is the strongest, and could end up being one of the very best songs Sleater-Kinney’s ever done. It’s structurally exquisite, with separate elements being introduced over the course of the song before being brought back together during the second iteration of the bridge. The building tension and explosive dynamics are so perfectly rendered that it will almost certainly be one of the bands trademark anthems by the time it’s done.
Like One Beat, the new material looks to feature more of Carrie Brownstein on vocals, and she’s raising her game by leaps and bounds. She’s extending her range and power and she’s got much more interesting phrasing going on so far. If One Beat was their post 9-11 record, then musically there are some hints that this may be their wartime record. “Bomp” starts with guitars that buzz like a fighter squadron and Weiss’ drums echo the militaristic feel with its measured cadences and occassional volleys of artillery fire in the toms and snares.
Thematic speculations aside, there’s one message that’s coming in loud and clear from “Entertain” : “If you’re here to be entertained, please go away, please go away. I’ve got something to say, I’ve got something to say.” We get used to artists becoming progressively softer as the albums go by, as their lives get cushier and their worries lessen. With Sleater-Kinney I’m expecting them to get even harder and heavier musically, more stridently defiant lyrically as the world gets uglier and uglier. Trust ‘em, they’ll have something to say.
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