Sleater-Kinney :: One Beat

July 11, 2002

It always seems I’m always on pins and needles waiting for the new Sleater-Kinney album to come out, and each time it’s always worth the wait. Two years after the magnificient All Hands on the Bad One, the Pacific-Northwest trio returns to the fold with their sixth studio effort, One Beat. As expected, it rocks with unparallelled ferocity and precision.

Like all Sleater-Kinney releases, One Beat rides along on Corin Tucker‘s inimitable wail and the intricate guitar interplay between Tucker and partner-in-crime Carrie Brownstein. Without a bass player, S-K relies heavily on the drumming of Janet Weiss to provide cohesion and movement. This lineup has rolled through four releases, and they’ve nailed down their trademark sound. Like all great bands though, they’ve been able to produce work that sounds remarkably different while still sounding like Sleater-Kinney. Early work on the eponymous Sleater-Kinney and Call the Doctor is raw and caustic, while the newer releases show off more luscious textures, including some gorgeous three-part harmonies.

So what does One Beat bring to the party? Building on all the previous albums, One Beat expands outward and pushes the band stylistically. It’s still hard, muscular grrrl punk, but the record goes beyond that, dabbling in soul and funk (Step Aside) and blues rock (Sympathy, which also cribs Stones’ “woowoo” from Sympathy for the Devil). Strings, keyboards and even a horn section make an appearance, but alas, still no bass guitar. As for the core sounds, the drums are more prevalent than previous records. Brownstein’s riffing seems sharper and more angular than before. Her guitar lines seem to poke in and out of songs, from around corners and from above the wall of sound. Emphatic notes always seem to come in moments of empty space.

Despite having much more instrumentation, One Beat never feels cluttered. It moves and breathes from propulsive rock to sweet melodies and back without any effort whatsoever. The songs have been stretching longer and longer since Dig Me Out, but nothing ever drags or feels flabby. Corin’s hypnotic verse phrasing’s getting better too, as many songs lull you into a sing song rhythm before unloading a soaring chorus. Every note is a setup for something even more powerful, as in Hollywood Ending, which builds and builds until the finale explodes like the Who, complete with instruments in pieces on the ground. A slight giggle can be heard as the ladies survey the destruction they have wrought.

Lyrically, Brownstein and Tucker continue to put together good work on topics personal and political while avoiding the navel gazing introspection that marred some of the material on All Hands. Not to say there’s no message. On Step Aside, Tucker leads a call and response soul number reminiscent of the other girl groups with a modern twist “Ladies, one time can you hear it? [Disassemble your discrimination] When violence rules the world outside [woohoohoo] and the headlines make me want to cry [woohoohoo] it’s not the time to just keep quiet, speak up, to the beat.” Like Le Tigre, Step Aside couches important sloganeering in danceable, ra-ra anthems with infectious success.

On the less bouncy numbers, Tucker’s forceful scream delivers the payload with a deadly sense of urgency and importance. Tucker sings as if everything were on the line, bringing immediacy to everything they have on record. The purity and intensity of her vocals on One Beat and Light Rail Coyote wash over you like a wave. The best part about all this is that when Corin hits the hardest, Carrie will almost always have a soothing, anchor vocal as a counterpoint.

Occassionally, I get people telling that I should write more, especially about music. They like the way I write about music. The thing is, I only ever want to write about Sleater-Kinney. Bands of this quality compel me to write, because I want to convince people to listen. Work like this moves me to advocacy. I tell everyone I know to buy their record, I make mixtapes with Sleater-Kinney songs on them, I push and prod them to check out their blistering live show. One Beat is, quite simply, the best album I’ve heard this year, and Sleater-Kinney has proven itself once again to be one of the very best bands on the planet.

One Beat hits stores August 20th.

Posted in From Blown Speakers