"Are you hungry? Did you eat before the POLL?"_ILM Artist Poll #51_SLEATER-KINNEY (VOTING ENDS Tuesday April 22nd at Midnight CST)

I've always liked AHOTBO a lot, but in putting my ballot together I have trouble picking out standout tracks. All the songs are good, but to me it doesn't have the highs of some of their other records.

All Hands is the one I go back to most often when I want a S-K jolt.

There's at least one track on it though where Carrie's singing lead and her voice is painfully off. :(

"burn, don't freeze" been in my head all day. the version in my head shreds a lot more than the actual recording :-(

I want to say the big problem with All Hands... is it feels to me that it's the one time they kind of slept through/coasted. The songs are fine, the playing fantastic (if anything, this is what kept me coming back for more spins for the set), the production their slickest to that point, but...intheblanks otm. I ended up voting for a couple, all from the back half of the album oddly enough.

I feel the same way about All Hands. The show I saw on that tour was weirdly disappointing, too.

I'm going through my ballot now, lots of suggestions from the thread making it more difficult for me though.

I, also, am planning to scramble a ballot together over the weekend (somehow). This kinda snuck up on me despite anticipating it for a while.

best band

"burn, don't freeze" been in my head all day. the version in my head shreds a lot more than the actual recording :-(

― wat is teh waht (s.clover), Friday, April 18, 2014 7:16 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I know what you mean, but in a way I think that's an achievement. The song has this simmering tension that is as much implied as actual. It's like an abstracted version of the barn-burners off Dig Me Out -- they were good enough by The Hot Rock to convey "rock" without necessarily doing it.

Also, I can recommend a good substitute for the drama you've been craving.

I put ''Burn, Don't Freeze'' on at least one mixtape back in the day. Love the loopy maze of guitar and vocal sounds - when people talk about the 'interplay' between Corin and Carrie this is what I think of, even if they have other songs that rock harder etc.

No idea how I'm going to keep my ballot from being like, 3/4 of Dig Me Out plus token representatives from everything else.

Think I might try doing a poll frm memory cos I loved/love S-K so much, and also cos I listened to The Corin Tucker Band's Kill My Blues and oh man that voice

Dr Casino my poll shd I do one'll be mostly Woods/Hot Rock, so

(note, I am a total fan of all the later records, have defended them on ILX before, just while you're listening to Dig Me Out it basically seems like the best, most consistent record ever)

I'm like that abt a few of their recs, while listening. Don't have time/opportunity atm

would loooooooove an extra week on this poll, just cause of life/timing (end of semester clog of conferences, going outta town for easter, etc.) but i realize every poll is like that for somebody. They just have such a good catalog, there's no writing off any albums as not part of the brushing-up process.

Their only meh album (AHOTBO, imo) still has loads of great tracks, it's like 15 tracks long. ie yeah, this is hard

Happy RSD! Still sitting @ 8 ballots. If you feel like braving the crowds, there's this sidepoll item possibly still being racked at a shop near you:

Heavens to Betsy Calculated LP (1000 copies...contains exclusive bonus track never before released)

Anyway, continue having a Sleater-Kinney Weekend!

xp AHOTB tracks will account for the majority of my worst list, and while there are songs on there that I adore (frankly, the less "typical" S-K songs, which demonstrates how autopilot much of the album felt like to me), do they match up with all my faves from Dig Me Out or Hot Rock or Call The Doctor?

I saw this band six times, not counting their Freedom To Marry benefit stint, which included an early version of "Entertain" alongside "Step Aside" and the ripping "Fortunate Son" cover, and received a fairly tepid response from the overly primped Meatpacking District crowd. I would've loved to have heard "Call The Doctor" in that context: they want to socialize you. (I will say that this poll has made me realize how much that song has always meant to me, going back to being a confused and angry queer teen, and hearing those words cracking open a way of life [for better or worse]. This was the greatest band, every show was revelatory, and I miss them. I hate Portlandia)

may i just
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J8n9R8rnB8

damn
wild flag - romance
there

11 in and counted on this final day of this most Sleater-Kinney of weekends! You've still got the rest of today, all of Monday, and all--to most of Tuesday (depending where you are) to vote.

the wild flag live show i saw was unfortunately dull

just submitted my ballot, looking forward to seeing the results. Thanks C. Grisso/McCain!

I loved the Wild Flag shows I saw! They seemed to be having so much fun. Plus they covered Television, The Ramones, and Fugazi!

Wild Flag came through here once, and I still regret missing it. First of all, I never got to see S-K live (by the time I was old enough to go to clubs, they stopped coming here, aside from the Pearl Jam tour*, which happened in a summer shed over 100 miles roundtrip from me, and anyway PEARL JAM?). Secondly, they were double-booked into this two-story venue with Mastodon, who would be upstairs, leaving Wild Flag to perform in the intimate downstairs bar which was more accustomed to hosting teenage garage bands playing Nirvana covers on Sunday afternoons. And it was right before my birthday! But I'd had a rough week, was really tired etc.

*The closest S-K came on their own after '99 was Austin in 2002; I had a trip planned that fell through at the last minute. Oh, and ACL fest in 2005, but you know, first year w/no tix and then a no-show hurricane.

and anyway PEARL JAM?

Haha. I thought it was cool of Pearl Jam to put bands like S-K and Jesus Lizard and Sonic Youth on their tours, but it always struck me as the equivalent of Television opening for Night Ranger.

Exactly. And I don't really hate Pearl Jam, but I would have been going to see S-K, paying a fairly high price (I seem to recall the cheapest tix were still $40+ before surcharge & tax) to see a show probably not unlike the one Alfred wrote about upthread (surrounded by mooks loudly wondering "Who are these dykes?").

It reminds me a little of the last time PJ Harvey came to Houston, as the opener for U2 on the Elevation tour. This was when they were back down to headlining arenas (albeit big ones: just over/under 20,000 seats), but still: If the idea of Sleater-Kinney in a summer shed is bit odd, PJ Harvey in an American basketball arena is pure WTF?

Shout-out to people who live in major markets that are for some reason bypassed by most touring acts!

My hometown of Phoenix being a major example.

when they opened for PJ in 2003 Eddie Vedder joined them for a version of "Hunger Strike." Corin Tucker has no reason to envy Chris Cornell.

Wow, no shit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnCTR0wx-YI

PJ & S-K together (Janet doing the Moe Tucker thing w/double toms)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHhnMGqZ2KU

13 Ballots in and counted.

sent, hooray!

I drove to Atlanta to see them twice, on the Hot Rock and AHOTBO tours. Totally worth the 4-hr drives.

Sterling Clover, please report to the white courtesy telephone to clarify something w/yr friendly neighborhood pollster.

15 Ballots In and Counted.

You have 48 hours left to vote.

Another PJ/S-K standard, doing the Who's arrangement of Eddie Holland's "Leaving Here":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJqGEYI9uA

(lol at the "those chicks ruined the song!" comments)

Maybe I listen to more straightup noise than some ppl bt I'm listening to The Woods on earbuds for the first time and the production/mastering isn't sounding all that severe. Also this is still my fav S-K album, and they're such an ALBUM band to me that picking songs is tricky

listened to the whole catalog over the weekend and I only have three spots left to fill!

Call The Doctor and AHOTBO totally rule, btw

I got to see S-K twice. Once at a festival where Carrie had some tech-problems (Mogwai played right before or right after and also had tech problems) and once at a club right before The Woods came out.

Before the festival concert I hadn't really listened to them before, but they converted me during the gig. Especially when someone shouted a request for Words + Guitar and they launched in to a great version with a long jam in the middle. And the club gig was even better. The played a lot of songs from The Woods and they were all great.

In my mind they were the best band in the world between 1997 and 2006.

::applause::

Oh FFS I left Good Things off my poll

NO!!! Fix that ballot.

I think I'll trust in enough other ppl voting for it that it doesn't matter, but fuck, really. That's just weird

18 Ballots In & Counted!

will send one this afternoon