Happy 20th Anniversary to Sleater-Kinney's The Woods

On this day 20 years Sleater-Kinney released The Woods, an amazing album of ripping rock and roll.

This was the last album the band would release before a ten year hiatus when the excellent No Cities To Love emerged (which made our list of best albums of the 2010's). The Woods just may be RtBE's favorite SK album, so let's look back at it...

The classic trio of Carrie Brownstein – guitar, vocals, Corin Tucker – vocals, guitar, and Janet Weiss – drums, harmonica, backing vocals, shipped themselves to upstate New York to work with producer Dave Fridmann who looked to capture the band's powerful live sound in the studio. The pairing worked swimmingly as The Woods is the most meaty sounding, "classic rock" record in the band's top notch discography. 

From the screeching, crashing opener "The Fox" the trio announce their intentions to be heavy as all hell while somehow remaining catchy. "Wilderness" uses angular/funky guitar strums from Brownstein and slamming drums from Weiss around Tuckers caterwauling vocals. The marching "What's Mine" moves forward with dueling vocals. One of the sonic pleasures of The Woods is the vocal duties seem to blend with more ease than any other SK album, while Tucker still hits the high's, Brownstein fits in perfectly and at times it is hard to tell who is leading the charge.    

The tightly wound "Jumpers" is a whirling dervish of nervous pop punk; it is like a sonic panic attack you don't mind returning to. "Entertain" also has this coiled energy mixed with pop stylings, a snaking electric guitar riff and an excellent swipe at Interpol while "Modern Girl" starts acoustic and sweet before moving to static filled and overdriven. 

"Rollercoaster" lives up to it's title with funky, stop/start rock riffs and a mid song stop and re-start to go over the tracks again, while "Steep Air" pushes the grinding metal riffs and pummeling drums. The whole album is excellent, and then arrives the sonic blitzkrieg of "Let's Call It Love" the longest song in the bands catalog. For a band who made their way with short angular punkish rock, this extended jam is unexpected and simply awesome. The guitars weave, the drums bang, the vocals deliver, it is a stunner. The finale "Night Light" continues that vibe and closes the killer album. 

Everyone has different tastes and ranking SK albums is a task for another post, but safe to say The Woods would be very close or possibly even top our rankings. The energy, the artistry, the power, and the passion of the band all shine through. 

Support the band and celebrate The Woods today with a few tracks below: