Apparently me and evollove, that record sounds like the vocals and drums were recorded under water. The guitars clash horribly and the overall balance between all the tracks is all fucked. They should have just stuck with John Goodmanson, why fuck up a good thing? Dude knew how to record them to perfection..

ok. i'm glad i'm not both of you.

may i ask what sort of turntable or hi-fi you listened this record on last time?

That is good, because we're always so glad not to be you either.

CD. press-release VIP copy. 400w preamp, 16 band digital EQ, dynamic full-range speakers, shit still sounds like it was recorded for the Smithsonian in 1923. What should I have cranked out the old Victrola like you?

and you still have shit ears?

First time I heard it, I was going to return it because I thought my copy was damaged.

Every song is a winner. Live performances of the songs rock. Could have been the best thing they ever did.

Theory: they realized it was a great record, figured it might make them super famous, they didn't want to deal with that, so they said "Let's ruin it."

That's why, for example, the end of "Modern Girl" is an overdriven barrage of fuzz and not at all pleasant to listen to.

Pol Pot, Milosevic, the producer of THE WOODS

Haha. Quite literally, at my first listen to the disk, I honestly thought the exact same thing!

The entire live process of creating that record was some of their best. In 2003 their shows had these jams and interludes that were Sonic Nurse good, and this is the material that became The Woods and the Woods tours in 2005/06. Live it is their best material, but their best record will always be The Hot Rock.


I'm totally into that interpretation, though it still backfired! While Dig Me Out got them buzzing in the music magazines and The Hot Rock was very much their Ok Computer moment with these magazine writers fad period, The Woods definitely was their most mainstream record and era. It got them too big, which really led to their decline because very clearly Corin was getting more into her family life and after 14 solid years of touring she wanted a break. With the Corin Tucker Band she has put out two really great records, but only toured twice for a month at a time each. S-K was getting way too big for that, it was all or nothing, and those ladies decided to go out on top instead of pushing it over..

in retrospect I am not sure which of the two I preferred live, I'd lean more towards Wild Flag cause I am a huge Mary Timony fan

While I hadn't debated this directly, I definitely think Wild Flag had a certain vibe and appeal which was altogether different from S-K.. I think S-K was definitely a superior project, but that is just because of the insane chemistry those women had together. When Spells came out in 1999 was so damned excited because I too am huge Mary Timony fan. Then in 2009 when Carrie released four more tracks remastered from that original 1999 "Age of Backwards" session I was even more impressed! I was also thinking, this material is fantastic why wasn't it released with the first EP?? Anyway, I'm glad that Carrie and Mary reconnected and brought Janet and Rebecca along, those ladies also had great chemistry but in a different direction. Wild Flag from its very beginning didn't feel like a band that could make multiple albums. It felt like a spontaneous kind of project, a true one-only. If anything, I thought that perhaps they'd begin incorporating some of that The Spells material into the set-lists to prolong the band if needed, but instead they were smart enough to quit while ahead.

This is how I'd rank these bands/albums

(1) The Hot Rock - S-K
(2) Dig Me Out - S-K
(3) Self-Titled - Wild Flag
(4) The Woods - S-K
(5) The Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues (this record kicks MAJOR ASS)
(6) One Beat - S-K
(7) The Spells "Age of Backwards (featuring extended material released in 2009 through NPR)
(8) All Hands on the Bad One - S-K (a totally for fun record)
(9) Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
(10) Call the Doctor - S-K
(11) Such Friends Are Dangerous - Excuse 17
(12) Out West - Cadallaca
(13) Calculated - Heavens To Beatsy
(14) Introducing Cadallaca - Cadallaca
(15) Self-Titled - Excuse 17
(16-25) Various Quasi records (yeah, I never really got into them, some great stage shows though, I definitely enjoyed that)

Never heard those Cadallaca selections. Are they really that not great?

Just because their at the bottom of a list of fantastic records doesn't mean to imply that they are not that great. They are actually really good records, just not necessarily better than the records I ranked higher on the list.