Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold - August 16th

way more than the supposed St. Vincent influence (I only hear that on "Can I Go On") it sounds like an album where the two songwriters weren't in the same room while they wrote.

― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z), Friday, August 16, 2019 10:19 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

according to interviews this is in fact the cse

It's just an ok effort, kinda uneven (some good moments)

I love most of it -- their best since One Beat.

I also like this a lot. My appreciation also extends to the fact that they could easily have coasted with another NCTL type effort (I like that album but it is exactly what you’d expect from their comeback but Alfred otm in that it was understandable). They obviously aren’t fools, they remember some reactions to The Woods, they know any shift away from their expected sound would be met with some pushback. I admire the exploration.

Ooooof, Janet posted a note on Twitter with a gnarly photo of her post-crash leg.

Back to basics on the next one 4 sure

It's a better record than the shaky Fallon performance and advance tracks advertised. And it's much more interesting than just another wheelhouse-type record

The experimentation, when it works (RUINS), is good - other times it is trainwrecky - a couple Brownstein vocals (Hurry... and Can I Go On) are just tics upon tics

ditto some of the cutesy Basement Jaxx-ish bells and whistles - sometimes show-offy in a bad way

Tucker only rarely pulls out her big vocals - her lack of polish and vulnerability is especially marked given what we know she can do

Restless, Ruins, The Dog/The Body, Broken are pretty great

Ruins channels some remain in light sh1t

I've tried it twice now and can't vibe with this shit at all. The problem (for me) isn't just that it's a shift away from the S-K formula, but that it's an out of date shift. I'd have eaten these songs up ca. 2007-08, but now I couldn't give less of a fuck about anything that sounds like this...from any band.

S-K has a formula?

See: all the albums except this one and The Woods.

wow like to don't hear an evolution from the first album to the hot rock?

I said formula, not carbon copies.

They certainly stretched the edges the deeper they got in their career, but this one and The Woods are outliers. C'mon, don't be cheeky.

Hot Rock almost as much of an outlier imo!

i think of hot rock as kind of an inlier

but Hot Rock is still a guitar record (and their best)

And the idea that Sleater-Kinney had a formula!

(Kisses, Johnny)

Hot Rock let me down at the time, but loved One Beat and The Woods. Not sure I've ever given HR a fair return listen.

What do I know? My favorite S-K album is AHOTBO, which everyone seemed to hate then and also now. One Beat was a big disappointment and then The Woods was a big dud.

i agree about that, the disappointment. probably in the long run i suppose i most preferred hot rock, although there's no preference for that that can do without the highs of dig me out / call the doctor

Call The Doctor thru AHOTBO is band's sweet spot.

I super love Ballad Lady Man on AHOTBO and just referred someone to You're No RnR Fun for something poppier to start with.

I think Hot Rock/All Hands is the peak

All Hands is probably my fav, I know lots of ppl who love it, I didn't know people didn't like it

Ugh, The Bsllad of a LadyMan. I feel obligated to correct this somehow.

or Hot Rock is the best, I go back n forth

I think Call the Doctor, Dig Me Out and The Hot Rock came out during an optimal time period for indie. Once the century turned over, it was fast churning over.

I am listening to Ballad of a Ladyman and those lyrics. Ugh. so good.

Huh, I forgot All Hands existed, not because I didn't like it because I only listen to this band so often, and when I do I usually go Dig Me Out or One Beat. Dunno when or if I'll listen to the new one, but I like your collective enthusiasm.

Like I said, I love the album. I relished how well they wrote about their bodies, and the arrangements reflect this development.

after two listens i'm with JF, it never lets you forget that it's been *produced*

It's not even that. It would've sounded great to me in... 2007, where it lives.

as that era of indie rockers matures it makes sense to expect that a lot of them would start to lag the times, wouldn't it? like 70s rockers who release albums in the 80s that affected 5+years dated sounds maybe

Yep.

I love AHOTBO and One Beat - from Call the Doctor through One Beat I don't think there's a peak, they're all great and pretty different.

I've always said the closest point of comparison may be Fugazi. All the albums are very different, but it's not a linear evolution so much as an ... expansion?

finally listening to the new one for the first time and...it's really not that huge a departure? it's certainly still primarily guitar-driven!

And generally speaking the synths tend to be doing guitar-like things.

yes, otm

agreed

Here's a review that gets it wrong.

But on the new album, the guitars are constrained, ceding space to keyboards and electronic beats; often, they’re content to repeat neatly deployed hooks. Instead of tense, fluctuating human friction, there’s layered pop architecture.

Bullshit. Flesh and blood vs machines, inspiration vs craft. I thought Pareles was too wise for these binaries.

breihan struggling with a record is a pretty sure sign i'll like it and think he's a wiener, reliable as the sunrise

― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, August 15, 2019 1:24 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

i like the record, and i think it's funny that the one song Breihan singled out as "the one true miracle" (LOVE) is probably my least favorite song on first pass

just jammed this on the subway and i love the entire second half, especially "bad dance" and "the dog/thebody" (one of the best s-k tracks ever imo)

"the dog/thebody" (one of the best s-k tracks ever imo)

man otm, it's like a hot rock-style verse with a chorus they borrowed from, like, ex hex

that song stuck out to me too.

the best

Yep that was the only one I immediately played again the first time thru.

Really enjoying this album overall. It might end up being my most-played new SK album since All Hands.

My boy.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/janet-weiss-healing-fund

Man that's fucked up. But now I'll just pretend she couldn't do the SK tour because of injury .

I completely forgot that One Beat existed until now. TBH to me SK's great albums are Doctor and Dig, and Hot Rock to a lesser extent. Though 'you're no rock and roll fun' is still my favorite song of theirs.

one beat is still their best imo