Search - Sleater-Kinney :: Sleater-Kinney

Sublime debut

William F. Parrish | Atlanta | 02/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sleater-Kinney,America's foremost trio of femme-punk furies,have always excelled at playing it cool and tough while retaining a strong sense of what thier testosterone-addled dude-rock contemporaries would likely term "icky girlie-ness"Stylistically,thier songs are full of proud sugar-and-spice signifiers:spirited playground chants,60s girl-group allusion,preciously campy vocal asides.But this could also describe any of a number of bands with similer elements in the Riot-Grrrl movement of the early 90s,a musical and political ground-swell that by 95(when this record dropped) was quickly becoming stagnant under the burden of it's own narrow views and dependance on familiar cliches.Sleater-Kinney's eponymous debut shows thier shrewdness in patently avoiding the same trap,while remaining true to the original idealogical thrust.The record is a brisk,rapid affair(clocking in at just under thirty minutes),but it manages an astonishing eclecticism and versatility:for every primal rager("Don't Think You Wanna","Sold Out"),there's a stunning,almost pastoral slow-burner("Slow Song","Lori's Song").Musically,the trio is astounding self-assured(especially for a debut).Guitarist-vocalist Corin Tucker,Guitarist-Vocalist Carrie Brownstien,and then-drummer Lori Macfarlane whip up a sound that is a miracle of cohesion,economy,and surging momentum.Tucker and Brownstien are a perfect compliment to each other here,both instrumentally and vocally;listening to the record is like eaves-dropping on an intimate conversation between two friends with a complicated,fascinating relationship.This makes for music that is occasionally sublime:the criminally cool"The Day I Went Away" builds from sinister,slinky verses to full-on choruses with a breath-taking organic buzz;the jaw-dropping "Be Yr Mama"(possibly the band's pinnacle) is so brimming with tightly-coiled, whip-smart attitude and musical inventiveness it sounds primed to explode at any moment.This band has,of coarse,gone on to record four much-more heralded and beloved records,but for my money,they've only been improving and refining a staggeringly original and compelling style that they display in all it's glory here,and despite a few clunkers("How To Play Dead",which is musically clumsy and rushed but nevertheless rescued by Carrie's deliciously nasty hectoring)this debut firmly establishes this Olympia,Washington trio as one of the most important bands of the 90s."

If you like Call the Doctor....

me-jane | Sydney, Australia | 12/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had the interesting juxtaposition of buying this album and seeing SK live for the first time within the same week. (It's lonely being a SK fan in Australia. Hardly anyone's heard of them, and their early albums are near impossible to find.) Anyway, while their live show was amazing, I was struck by that strange sense of displacement experienced by any obsessed fan at a concert - the band that seemed to exist solely to nurse your adolescent anguish in your bedroom are suddenly on a stage, unreachable, impersonal, and, well, glamorous. SK have become more palatable over the years - now they're more sophisticated, more stylish, more self-assured, and less politically extreme. Thankfully, they've managed to make that inevitable transition while still making compelling art - One Beat is a fantastic record. Still, something is lost in that forward-motion (not that same thing as selling out, mind you), and it's here in all its glory on this self-titled debut. On this record, and on Call the Doctor, SK were blessed with a wonderful lack of self-consciousness (the very thing that mars the uninspired All Hands On The Bad One.) This record is raw, immediate, direct, and naked. Sure, it's crude sometimes, and flawed, and brief, but it's impossible to question the sincerity, even if you don't like the politics, and while the militant feminism, bloodcurdling screams, and guitars that seem to simulate a monotone of dread are probably enough to alienate 99% of the human population, I'll love SK forever for having had the guts to make it. They seem like an entirely different band now, which leaves me with a sense of ambivalence: I'm glad they're becoming a real force to be reckoned with, that they're shiny and elegant and all grown up, that they're moving beyond their marginal status and seem more at peace with themselves and with men. But I think, deep down, I like my heroines a bit scrappier, a bit more unsure of themselves, a bit more messed up. Sometimes I think SK's flaws were their very virtues, and I worry that the more polished they become, the less powerful they are."

Gut-punching, anti-phallus rock

S. M. Cowan | 05/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An acquired taste, this CD took a while to accept, but now it's on heavy rotation. Very thought provoking, powerful debut.
This album is enjoyable on its own but is especially fun when you compare it to One Beat or The Hot Rock. Such contrast is a testament to a band's evolution."