Published on Dec 20, 2002
It’s hard to fault musicians for addressing the horrific events
of Sept 11 in this year’s crop of albums. The events of that day
carried such magnitude that it’s hard not to address it. And, it
rang as an event that had an impact on virtually everyone in
America. Even those who say the day did not change a thing in their
lives, that still rings as a bold statement.
Most artists have played it safe. Some have resorted to
dunderheaded flag-waving and have wrapped themselves in the
American flag, while making a decent profit to boot. Bruce
Springsteen and Neil Young, two of arguably the most respected
musicians in North America, have released songs that try to make
sense of that day. Sadly, both of those artists have released works
that stay fairly close to the center.
Enter Sleater-Kinney. Of all the artists who have released their
takes on 9/11, Sleater-Kinney’s
One Beat so far stands as probably the most definitive and
striking statement of those day’s events. On the bouncing “Step
Aside,” the power trio rail against fundamentalists who use
violence to get their views across and politicians who exploit
paranoia to take away civil liberties.
Their ‘official’ 9/11 song, “Faraway,” dwarfs Alan Jackson’s
“Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning,” simply by the
setup: a woman, nusing her newborn, gets a phone call. It was a
phrase that many of us heard early that morning if we received a
phone call from friends or loved ones : “Turn on the TV.”
Sleater Kinney do get a bit carried away with the emotion of the
song and deliver a low-blow at the President : “And the president
hides/ while working men rush in to give their lives.” You can dog
Dub-yah all you want, but Air Force One was made to serve as a
Presidential HQ. And any other president would have been on that
plane. But minor gripes aside, Sleater-Kinney do a great job on
mapping out the general emotions of people who were trying to make
sense of the unimaginable. “Why can’t I get along with yoooooou?!”
Corin Tucker yells in her patent shrill delivery, not totally
expecting to get an answer.
Along with current events,
One Beat also graps with motherhood. It’s a heafty load for
any album. But Sleater Kinney pull it off. It doesn’t hurt that the
album rocks like a mother. Springsteen’s
The Rising, as moving as it was, wasn’t the classic that
some critics dubbed it after giving it only listen. On
One Beat, Sleater-Kinney may not have answers, but they give
the listener something that is more important: a cathartic
release.
Even with the heavy themes,
One Beat is a listening experience that borders on giddy.
“Oh!” has to be one of the sexiest songs written in recent memory.
The Go-Gos-like intro, “If you’re tired of the big so-so, oo oo oo”
is pure pop bliss. The song is complete with hand-claps and a
cheery chorus. Carrie Brownstone’s and Corin Tucker’s guitar work
hasn’t been this loose and flat-out joyful since their most
acclaimed release,
Dig Me Out.
And even though the band doesn’t have a bassist, that has not
stopped Sleater Kinney from making their most assured and melodic
album of their career. Janet Weiss remains one of the most powerful
drummers in rock. On “Oh!” and the pulverizing closer, “Sympathy,”
she hammers a rhythm into your head that only gets better with
repeat listens.
One Beat does stumble a bit midway through, but that’s only
because it’s ancored by five amazing lead-off songs and two ending
songs that pack a whallop on the listener. It’s short enough to
wade the middle, but “O2” and “Pristina” are somewhat forgettable.
Things start to pick up with “Funeral Song.” If anything, the song
has one of the most hard-to-forget lyrics on an album full of them:
“Nothing says ‘forever’ like our very own grave”
Albums like
One Beat show that the moment people say “Rock is Dead,” a
band will come out to prove that assumption dead wrong. What’s
tragic is that
One Beat will likely get overlooked at the end of the year
for the hype-driven craze surrounding the ‘The’ bands, such as The
Hives and The Vines (The White Stripes excluded). No matter. “One
Beat” stands as one of the best albums that Sleater Kinney has put
out and a great ‘first album’ purchase for neophites.