Couldn't miss this one on the 2011 lists if you tried.
Well, this is no real supergroup, its pretty much a Sleatter-Kinney album, in song structure and overall sound. So, plenty of hooky guitars, insistent drums, rah rah defiant vocals, the occasional structural squiggle and Spoon-levels of casual muso cache.
And like most SK albums its perfectly solid, full of undeniable melodies and headbobbery, but never quite rising to any truly transcendent heights. The real highlight here is in the supergroup-ready production, which is aggressive in shifting the mix and the focus mid-track, allowing guitar solos to soar, bass to double rumble, organ flourishes to crest, jarring your attention out of thrum-thrum reverie once every track and a half or so.
On a personal level, I'm hard as hell to please when it comes to female vocals, and Carrie Brownstein generally doesn't do it for me: her reedy, breathy, inflection-heavy settles into a frequency already crowded by guitars, always competing for space. That alone keeps this from being a real hit for me. Sorry indie hardliners 3.5/5
You might like this if: If you like Sleater-Kinney? Ever since I spontaneously started this little section shortcut circa #353 I've endeavored to avoid making it snarky, to give the casual reader something to skim, but what else can you say here? Its a good solid rock and roll album that doesn't take any really big chances.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment