I remember the only time I saw them, in 2003 or so, one of the openers was Smoosh, a keyboard and drums duo of adolescent sisters. When SK went on they told some story about backstage chatter with Smoosh in which the drummer expressed outrage that drummers tend to not get songwriting credits, pointing out that her sister didn’t write her drum parts.
― JoeStork, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 20:23 (four years ago) link
I love Smoosh!
― Scorsese runs afoul of the Irishman (Leee), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 21:45 (four years ago) link
Oh I remember them, apparently they are 'Chaos Chaos' now?
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 21:52 (four years ago) link
Yeah, I really need to check them out as CC -- She Like Electric is one of my favorite albums of the '00s.
― Scorsese runs afoul of the Irishman (Leee), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 22:09 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34XX_fg-R_4
i didn't really care much for either of the last two albums but this one's quite nice
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 12:37 (two years ago) link
It's really catchy!
― peace, man, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 12:43 (two years ago) link
not bad, but the warm posi vibes of this song/video and the album title can't help but weird me out, knowing how the split went down... it ain't fair probably but :/
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 12:49 (two years ago) link
I just want more Corin vocals.
― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 12:50 (two years ago) link
xp yeah i totally get that. i'm still pretty baffled by the split and no doubt janet's presence will be missed here
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:02 (two years ago) link
xxp: yeah, I didn't even give Center Won't Hold more than one or two listens, primarily because of that.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:02 (two years ago) link
it's just not the same bandlike it's fine I guess but
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:03 (two years ago) link
janet was totally more of a third guitarist than a drummer
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:22 (two years ago) link
i loved the center won't hold though
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:31 (two years ago) link
This is a good song!
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:32 (two years ago) link
chorus is v wild flag to me which... not my fave personally but i will check out this record regardless
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:40 (two years ago) link
I preferred Center's experiments to the holding pattern of NCTL, no matter how good the latter was.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:45 (two years ago) link
"the dog/the body" is one of my favorite s-k tracks of *all time*
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:46 (two years ago) link
yep
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:46 (two years ago) link
This is a good call, thought the same thing.
I know it's not fair of me, especially considering Janet wasn't even a founding member, but I feel like I'd be more charitable if this was released under a different project name. It's fine, it just doesn't feel like Sleater-Kinney to me. And, yes, I understand this is more my hang-up, but it's true.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 13:57 (two years ago) link
Just not feeling Carrie-led songs from the last album or this, even more than missing Janet (I didn't care for Wild Flag either).
― Joe Bombin (milo z), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:21 (two years ago) link
It's...fine. It just sounds kinda average. No Weiss, no dice.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link
I liked the last 2 records but NCTL is more of a full band record, where Center feels more of a Carrie/St Vincent thing with a little Corin in there. It doesn’t feel like SK to me unless there is a lot of Corin/Carrie interplay. Interesting to see how the (full) departure of Janet changes things.
― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:33 (two years ago) link
Serious question, is this the most people have ever cared about a drummer leaving a band/being fired/replaced?
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:34 (two years ago) link
add "dying" and you get Bonham and Moon
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:35 (two years ago) link
this song is ok. Center was meh. I might go to this tour though, I haven't seen Wilco since YHF and I heard enough good things about the Janet-less SK tour that I regretted not going.
― akm, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
the nature of the departure was extra jarring because it seemed to fly in the face of their stated politics to some extent xps
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:38 (two years ago) link
it sounded like it was basically 'creative differences' when it came down to it, but played out in about the worst possible way
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:40 (two years ago) link
― akm, Tuesday, May 11, 2021 9:37 AM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
wilco has quietly turned into one of the great live bands over the past decade or so
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:41 (two years ago) link
A pleasant surprise, in that I was listening to TCWH the other week, thinking then it felt like a final chapter.
But then came the announcement email this morning, and I like this and am interested in hearing more.
Is Angie Boylan still drumming with them and just getting the Daryl Jones treatment?
― blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:43 (two years ago) link
it's Eric Carr I think
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:46 (two years ago) link
I'm listening to TCWH now and it's a total jam, love it.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:50 (two years ago) link
XP Anton Figg!
― blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 14:52 (two years ago) link
I know it's not fair of me, especially considering Janet wasn't even a founding member
No, but she shaped and defined their sound and approach as much as (or arguably more than) Carrie and Corin. I mean, Neil Peart wasn't a founding member of Rush.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:03 (two years ago) link
I'll admit, I'm mystified by the reaction in the last two years. They're not the first band to lose a crucial member, nor the first to get credible accusations of bad faith.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:05 (two years ago) link
I think it's fair to say, setting aside whether it's been a successful transition or not, there was a fundamental change in the sound of the band between NCTL and TCWH, so I'm not terribly surprised to see the reaction. S-K was a band that people took very dearly to heart, so it doesn't seem that weird to see people expressing a strong opinion on the shift.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:10 (two years ago) link
Well, sure. I love them too. But, you know, shit happens. I don't mind anyone thinking TCWH sucks.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:12 (two years ago) link
I don't think it sucks, it's just not what I was looking for in a S-K album and I've not returned to it nearly as much as I have the rest of their catalog.
I think the wild reactions also come down to the remnants of the "sell out" bullshit surrounding any tangentially "punk" band from the '90s.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:14 (two years ago) link
^^In general it's wise to avoid FB comments, but I got curious and it seems like every other post is "Bring Back Janet" with the occasional side dish of "St. Vincent Ruined S-K", while another guy (always a guy, speaking of the new single) saying that Janet was fired so they could make "Taylor Swift Music".
― blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:16 (two years ago) link
it was a relatively ugly split especially with janet's side of the story not making carrie & corin seem very sympathetic at all, so i can understand why people were particularly upset, especially with janet being so beloved & crucial to the band
if they'd just amicably split because corin & carrie wanted to go in one direction & janet wanted to go in another, or at least smoothed over the interpersonal conflicts much more in their public statements, then people wouldn't have had quite as strong of a reaction (though i'm sure everyone would still be sad to see janet go)
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:16 (two years ago) link
of course the album that prompted the split being a change in direction that wasn't that well received by the fanbase didn't help at all either
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:20 (two years ago) link
this isn't bad, and who knows what the real story is, it's just for me personally, rock bands are basically about the dynamics of how certain people play together, that musical chemistry otherwise honestly why are you even listening to rock music?
and without janet, it's just a different dynamic. i'm sure that corin and carrie will write some good catchy tunes but it's not particularly interesting to me i'd rather just listen to something else
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:20 (two years ago) link
also with the selling out bullshit, honestly, I get why they would do this. This doesn't really feel like Sleater-Kinney to be but so what, they built the band and frankly they could both right the identical songs, identical productions, everything and if it said "Carrie Brownstein" or "Corin Tucker Band" on the cover no one would care. their solo tours would probably draw 1/3 of the crowds at best.
so why not? it doesn't diminish the original run of s/t through the woods
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:28 (two years ago) link
Oh, to be clear, I'm not saying they "sold out". It's been an undercurrent of a lot of the bullshit "St. Vincent ruined the band" stuff though , unfortunately.
I hold nothing against the evolution of the band and I don't blame them for wanting to shake things up, I just wish I liked the new direction as much as I liked the older stuff. I mean, The Woods was a pretty big curveball for them at the time, I still adore that one.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:34 (two years ago) link
I still find the last album incredibly moving and love every song, nothing has really changed that. New song's pretty good.
― swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
I love TCWH -- easily my favorite S-K, up there with One Beat. And it sounds/feels like S-K; my initial impression of the opening song was that it felt forced, but I don't hear it that way anymore, and Janet's presence is essential to what makes TCWH great.
The new song feels tentative, though. It also reminds me a lot of this (which is not why I think it feels tentative, tbc):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaEZ8k7K44o
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:42 (two years ago) link
The level of personal identification fans had with S-K makes the response unsurprising to me. Add in that they were so much stronger together than separately (except for Janet, ironically - Wild Flag and the Corin Tucker Band were not great, Quasi rules) for a topper.
The St. Vincent storyline was unfair to her and the band, the last album being written remotely and traded back and forth via Logic Pro files seemed like a much bigger issue.
― Joe Bombin (milo z), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link
the 'st vincent ruined the band' thing seemed to be a combination of people unhappy with the different musical direction and looking for someone to blame for the interpersonal conflict, and of course st vincent being carrie's ex fuelled that narrative further in line with classic misogynistic rock narratives
― ufo, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 15:58 (two years ago) link
The irony of the wrongheaded "St. Vincent ruined them!" take is that it was Janet's idea to bring in St. Vincent.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 11 May 2021 16:03 (two years ago) link
Re: Change Display Name
Dave Abbruzzese’s firing from Pearl Jam comes to mind, as it really showed the band’s vindictive and petty nature, and it left a bitter taste for many fans. His crime? Probably doing too many of the publicity rounds that Epic was asking them to undertake
― beamish13, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 16:07 (two years ago) link
He bought a flashy new car that Vedder didn't like.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 11 May 2021 16:08 (two years ago) link