Sleater-Kinney breaks up

Horn section on "Step Aside" too.

Ha, that's right! One Beat was kind of their "pop" move, right?

They've had big singalong choruses forever ("Little Babies"), but what's different about "Hurry on Home" (which I really dig!) is the shiny production, which tbf is a direction they were taking on No Cities already, so this is as much a logical extension as you might expect.

XP Kind of. They'd been moving in that direction since The Hot Rock. I remember a circa-'99 interview w/Corin complaining about THR being "too soft" or something like that.

Actually: "I had a lot of anxiety about it. I had a lot of self-image tied up in really distorted guitars and putting up this front of angriness. The band really blocked it out, but I freaked."--Tucker to Spin, re:The Hot Rock and change of direction.

the song itself isn't as surprising as the choreography

tbh I posted itt bc I love free agent drummers who aren’t tied to any particular band. I’d be miserable if playing drums= playing one band’s songs exclusively. That’s my projected dream for Janet, lol.

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, July 1, 2019 6:05 PM (one hour ago)

i mean this is kind of already what all of the members of SK do, they all have plenty of other things that keep them occupied. at this point i assumed their career as a band now consisted of getting together once every few years for an album and a tour, whenever they felt inspired. that's why janet joining the reunion and then quitting right before the tour feels particularly weird and wrong -- whatever's going on behind the scenes, it feels like things are somehow going off the rails.

Idk — I only want what’s best for Janet. Hypothesizing about a breakup feels tabloidy to me.

I mean, yes, any number of things could theoretically have happen, it's a wide and varied world, but "the band has decided to go in a different direction" is pretty established code

i didn't see fallon but I heard somewhere they were adding another person to the onstage lineup (beyond the 4th I think who toured NCTL..so there were 5?), is that correct? that's too many people in S-K for me.

Yeah, there was someone playing a keyboard, like a synth-bass kinda thing. No idea if they're joining up for the tour, though.

Haven't they had a fourth member in their live shows for a while though?

Yep, Katie Harkin joined on guitar in 2015. Toko Yasuda is the new addition, on keyboards.

What specifically is making people speculate that she's playing to a click in the Fallon performance?

I see drum hardware and lights. I don't see an earpiece.

OK, I guess I do see Brownstein and the keyboardist (?) with earpieces - could be other reasons.

I see dead people.

Well, there are no stage monitors, so they are all wearing earpieces. But whether or not she is playing to an actual click she is playing like she is reluctantly playing to a click, stiff and unenthusiastic, because of the nature of the song's robotic groove.

all I know is that in this age and as I get older as a woman, I make quicker decisions without giving a fuck and it's fun. Go with god or a feeling and be done with it, janet will be awesome no matter what.

this "Janet left the band because the songs are different and not as good" hypothesis for some reason shifts blame anywhere but her, and if we're going to be tabloidy you'd think she would have raised the issues early on before or during recording vs this relatively late in the game and leaving them in a worse position. as a tabloid reporter i have decided to blame Janet, the evidence is all there.

more realistically this was probably in the works for a bit and they tried to convince her to stick around but she decided in the end to leave, maybe she just wants to chill and doesn't want to deal with touring, who knows. So, no need to blame anyone.

I'm assuming that some particular straw broke the camel's back.

The click track thing was just me hypothesizing.

Yeah, it could really be anything, especially because everybody in the entertainment world lies. Maybe they wanted to do a flashy choreographed tour and she wasn't into that. Maybe she thought the auxiliary members were getting paid too much. Maybe she wanted it to be even more programmed and click track, and they were all, no, Janet, you will not get your click track!

maybe Janet has followed Mo Tucker and become a Trump supporter and is disgusted by the rest of the bands libturdism

That reminds me that Samantha Maloney also played Moe Tucker in a movie.

I feel like there are other ways of looking at that rhythm pattern rather than the discussion of how "robotic" it is. I think of it more in terms of layering, the hi-hat, the snare, the bass drum, different patterns working together. Not sure how much I agree with the assertion that she goes about it in a way that is "stiff."

They remind me of a less abstract Ut. I don't think anyone would say Nina Canal's drumming in Ut is robotic.

is she still drummer for the Jicks? I thought she was just making choices. But whatever, they have had so many sides projects, before bands I am fine with whatever. I really liked Cadallaca and The Spells.

Now the drummer is only in 14 bands.
― yours fondly, harshaw. (mrgn), Tuesday, June 27, 2006 12:37 PM (thirteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

xpost I dunno, it sounds to me like what drummers sound like when they are playing along to a programmed beat that doesn't really need them. Like Cut Copy, for example, who have a live drummer, but don't really need one. You end up with kind of awkwardly sloshy rhythmic hi-hats atop pristine programmed stuff. But it can also be a cool effect, like in New Order. Think "Temptation."

kinda glad i hadn't bought my ticket for this tour yet

You are going to wish you did when they actually land Phil Collins.

Like if you're saying it's stiff, you'd also probably have to say this is stiff, and I would not, and I feel like we may be getting into gender-related territory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ax_OFb1w4

Here's the Fallon performance, for anybody who hasn't seen it yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xrSuIqrhRU

I don't know Ut but that clip rocks and is not stuff imo.

And gtfo with bringing up gender, tbh. It's stiff compared to *most of the awesome stuff Janet has done before*, esp in SK.

Phil doesn't really play drums anymore :(

That was kind of a boring performance.

Note: I used to say i was going to call my next band Biz Cas because of Carrie's performance wardrobe.

Instead of blaming a person I would say blame Carrie's acting career. it was a super strangely successful thing that happened. And I am ALL for people doing many things outside of what they are known for, but yeah sometimes it's still strange.

I bring this up because before it seemed more of en equality among three members with maybe Corrine getting more attention. And now it's definitely playing into Carrie's 30 Seconds from Mars.

ut keep playing again and i keep missing them

a tweet from the current jicks drummer:

As someone who’s had to follow @jazzzhand and play her parts (you never replace) all I can say is goooooood f’n luck and invest in a good fan.

— Jake W Morris (@drumbschool) July 1, 2019

so is that tonight show performance their last-ever performance with janet? kind of a sad way to go out.

Last performance. The tour begins w/a one-off gig September 5th, in Raleigh, before starting for realsies a month later in Spokane.

I would rather just blame Fred Armisen. MARK THESE WORDS.

Jesus Christ, WHAT IF FRED IS THE REPLACEMENT!?!?!

is ringo available?

Maybe Fallon could do SK a solid and lend out Questlove.

Carrie (and Janet) were awesome in Wild Flag, so I don't blame Carrie's career. I'm happy blaming Fred, though.

xpost Phil's son has been playing drums, they can get him, then.

If Phil Collins’ son gets this job, I’m crying foul! Nepotism sucks.