The Woods is the title of the new Sleater-Kinney album and it's their seventh full-length release. It was produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Low) and reveals a very different side to the band. Like many things with sevens on it, it features an itch, a need to try new things. Sometimes people get scared by new things, which is one of the reasons people are disappointing. This is to say that, like Sleater-Kinney, you should not be afraid of new things: honest-to-god guitar heroics/solos; new depth and heaviness to the songs; 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, breathing, playing as one with unfettered ... read more