The Woods

 

The wildly acclaimed and influential band Sleater-Kinney - formed in Olympia, Washington in 1994 - consisted of a core line-up of Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar), Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals) and Janet Weiss (drums). Over the course of a breakneck seven albums in ten years, Sleater-Kinney took rock music in a new direction combining raw punk energy and an unabashedly political stance. Time magazine's Greil Marcus called Sleater-Kinney "America’s best rock band" while Rob Sheffield went a step further hailing them as "America's best punk band ever" in Rolling Stone.

2005's The Woods is Sleater-Kinney's self-assured seventh and final full-length release. It was produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Low) and revealed a very different side to the band with honest-to-god guitar heroics/solos; new depth and heaviness to the songs; and fuzzed out lows cropping up in places formerly reserved for staccato highs. All of this surrounding and infiltrating the constant in the Sleater-Kinney program: three artists singing and playing as one with unfettered passion and emotion. 

The album has been freshly remastered by Greg Calbi for this release. This reissue coincides with Sub Pop’s October 2014 release of remastered versions of Sleater-Kinney’s six other full-length albums, as well as a limited-edition, deluxe vinyl box set featuring all seven albums. 

Greg Calbi: "For such ferocious music, it was actually a very delicate process. I found, in dealing with one of the earlier albums, that my signal path and compression, including my Burl B2 convertor, gave me a more resonant, deeper sound on the guitars than the originals. Because the band rarely, if ever, used bass, I felt that this added to the aggressiveness and power of the band overall. I believe this treatment added a subtle, yet important, dimension to the band, and I explored each of the other albums with the same intention. Above all, their music, from inception, stands the test of time for the cleverness and emotional impact they brought to their genre."

1.  The Fox 

2.  Wilderness 

3.  What's Mine Is Yours 

4.  Jumpers 

5.  Modern Girl 

6.  Entertain 

7.  Rollercoaster 

8.  Steep Air 

9.  Let's Call It Love 

10. Night Light