Washing Machine Appreciation Thread
 

Ok, so I've been on a near-exclusive Sleater-Kinney run since No Cities To Love came out. I've been listening to S-K's entire discography back and forth and just marveling. That is until Girl In A Band came out. For whatever reason it inspired me to put on Washing Machine today. Loud. When asked, I typically point to Sister and Daydream Nation as SY's zenith. But man, someone can EASILY make the argument that Washing Machine is their high point. Serisously. Perhaps it's the joy Coco brought, but SY is creatively - and technically - so "on point" throughout the recording. It's nothing short of a masterpiece. Thurston's songs are great. Kim's songs are great. Lee's songs are great. They are tight, focused, and weird throughout. I'm just blown away again. Great, great record and a reflection of better times for the band.

Absolutely one of their strongest efforts. It's like effortless magic.

I personally think it's their best sounding record. So well recorded. Thurston and Lee's guitars sound so clear and dirty at the same time. I wish The Eternal had the same production value. I love it. I want my guitar to sound exactly like this.

I am also big Washing Machine fan (few years ago ordered also WM-shirt). Really one of the greatest SY-album, also one of the greatest albums of all time. I think only Sister, EVOL & ATL are maybe better, but just a very little. And when I listened WM, I think it´s their best. Also think it´s one of their best sounding albums.

After Experimental I was afraid SY just couldn´t make great albums anymore and I would not listen them anymore. Then one day I went to the record shop and they played No Queen Blues there (I haven´t heard SY´s new album is coming). It sounded just so great I bought it immediately and was so happy I had one of my favourite bands back. It was that US-version and some time I believed the one I heard in the record shop was untitled bonus in the end of the first vinyl and Panty Lies was No Queen Blues. But soon I noticed there had happen a mistake in pressings.

Funny i haven't even listened to a single tune from new SK and am waiting for the show in May BUT ive been bumping SY on heavy rotation. Yesterday was Washing Machine on repeat, today it was Sonic Nurse with my usual accompanying religious experience..

To be sure i think SY had three distinct high water marks.. Daydream Nation where their music finally became something more "conventional".. Washing Machine where their sound became more "polished" and Sonic Nurse where their stageshow became a culmination of everything they are a kind of harmonized chaos.. to me Nurse is their all time high point but im biased, i love that record so much i could marry it ;)

I've always felt Washing Machine was a really strong album in the way that it demonstrated a new direction for the band. It stands on it's own when compared to everything that came before it. That said, everything that came before...and most everything that came after (sans Rather Ripped which was a total joke of a record, and The Eternal which had strong moments but all in all was nothing too special) was/is so much better in my opinion. In other words, I understand why it's an important record. I just always found it boring. I should also state that there's a big difference between an album being boring and an album "sucking", and WM definitely doesn't suck.




I don't remember the last time I listened to it. It's been at least 3 years. I should change that soon.

I listened to Washing Machine recently as well, always been one of my undisputed favourites.

It was maybe the fourth or fifth album of theirs I bought when I was around about 15 or 16, so this was like 15 years ago. It immediately blew me away, it has a specific atmosphere/ambience that is really magical for want of a less cheesy word.

Totally agree about the guitar sound, how it's clear yet dissonant at the same time, beautifully produced record. The only track I'm not so fond of is Little Trouble Girl for some reason. But the title track and Becuz would easily figure in a list of my all time favourite tracks.

It was my first Sonic Youth record. I found it extremely difficult to get into but the moment I finally "got it", a whole new world unfolded.
This album has had immense influence on myself, on my understanding of music and to my own creativity. It's the best Sonic Youth record and for me personally, the best record ever created.

I'm in.
I always say that WM is their peak.
No one accept that :(

As agreed by everyone it's a fantastic album.

The personal highlights for me are Washing Machine (also a song that'd go with me on my desert island discs), No Queen Blues and of course Diamond Sea. Lowlight? Pantie Lies. An absolute shocking song and would probably be up there in my most hated songs by SY.

It always bothered me that they never played any song of this album after '95, save for Skip Tracer a few times. For an album as strong as it is they seemed to drop it pretty quickly after touring the album. Although the same could be said for any of their albums after Goo.

I'd agree that certainly the next three albums were nowhere near as good as Washing Machine they kicked it back with Sonic Nurse.

The guitars starting at around 2:26 on Washing Machine the song alone are a major achievement for them as a band. Also proof that wearing your Velvets influence on you sleeve is beneficial to most rock bands but only few can master it the same way SY has done on this record. Great record.

For me they kicked it back with Murray Street. I don't want to take this thread in a negative direction, but I thought they had finally "lost it" during the ATL/NYCG&F period. Scary shit (for me). Blasphemy for some of you, I know - but my opinion nonetheless.

I remember I was driving down to London on the motorway with a few friends and we had this album on. It was like 3am, the roads were dead, pitch black, and there was only the motorway lights on.
Around that moment on Washing Machine I remember we'd all shut up and just listened to the song. When it got to that point where the noise starts to kick in a notch I remember putting my foot on the accelerator 80, 90, 100 then reaching 110mph, then just desperation the throw the car off the road. I can't describe it really. Coming to the end of the song I just let go of the accelerator till it dropped down to 60mph and it felt like we were pretty much crawling. After that song ended it goes into Unwind and there was this odd calm around us all. Music to to Crash Your Car to indeed.

If anything, it highlighted the perfect track order on the album.

That's a fantastic way to put it.

I really loved ATL straight when it came, but I had same feelings with NYCG&F as with Experimental (afraid that I don´t have my favourite band anymore). Bought Murray Street almost half years later it came (one friend said they´re released it, I didn´t even know they´ve made record) and was really glad, when had a feeling I got SY back. Loved all the records after Murray.

When nyc gf came out my girl got it for me and said, "im not sure you're going to like this record." Fucking shit i fell in love with it from the first listen..

Washing Machine was the first SY I bought right when it came out, and I fell for it hard. I was in high school, couldn't afford many albums, so the ones I had got played a lot, burned into my brain. It had some relatively mellow subtly psychedelic tracks, a retro-60's-girl-group track, a Velvets-tribute-of-sorts, a mid-album secret track, two stellar Lee songs (after Jet Set's severe Lee drought), & Diamond Sea was like a world unto itself unfolding deeper and deeper in ecstasy/obliteration. Had a great driving experience listening to my copy of the extended single CD with the "alt Lp ending" version of the track, as a passenger driving from town up into foggy mountain roads with teenage friends. The song and the road both traveled from familiar to mysterious territory. They hadn't heard anything like it before, and were blown away. I missed their tour for this album for reasons teenagers miss out on things, like lack of a ride, and was pretty bummed. I made damn sure to make it to the Tibetan Freedom Concert, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco 1996 via Greyhound bus with a friend. We stayed at his Aunt & Uncle's place in the Haight and walked to the park early, got right up front, making sure to choose the stage SY would appear on. The Sonics played a short set, only four songs I think, and it was the first time I saw them live. When Diamond Sea hit, I was overwhelmed as only a music-obsessed teenager can be seeing their favorite band for the first time, playing their favorite song for 20+ minutes. Highlight of my year. If I'm not mistaken, that was one of the last times they played that song. That song was my gateway into extended improv and eventually jazz, which I am still gleefully exploring. Now I see connections with other side-long epic tracks like Tortoise's Djed, Pink Floyd's Echoes, Velvet Underground's Sister Ray, Grateful Dead's Dark Star.

I found this image in a fine art magazine once, which dovetails with the album artwork, and would be ideal for a deluxe 20th anniversary reissue on spin-cycle vinyl. Bill Woodrow, "Twin-Tub with Guitar", 1981, washing machine. It is a sheet metal guitar sculpture using metal from a single salvaged washing machine, designed so that all the pieces remain attached to the washing machine, made the year the band was founded:



In my memory the sculptor was female, the guitar jutted out and away from the washing machine, and was less rough and more precise/realistic. My memory has been known to be faulty.

If Washing Machine has a lowlight, for me it would be Junkie's Promise. I usually skip that one. The post-Cobain maudlin heroin drama feels deeply passe to me now.

for me: washing machine is their best album. especially because of the way it sounds. the vocals, the guitars, the drums.. the noisy 'solo' on becuz is fantastic. always wanted them to record some more songs with the same recording set up :)

also: not a single bad song. they're all great. only junkie's promise is not exactly one of their greatest achievements. :)

Great post! I am really jealous to you, because I haven´t ever seen SY live. Really would also liked to hear Diamond Sea live. I really loved also Junkie´s at first. To me Becuz was disappointment at first because it sounded in the first song of the album same to me as Experimental-album sounded. No queen blues was something really different as they made before when I heard it on that record shop, so when heard Becuz I thought maybe No Queen is the only song that differ from the past. But when Junkie´s started, I was again really excited, it sounded something new (I think they never used bongos before). Really love that great outro!

Panty Lies for real? In my opinion this song's got way more to it than people seem to think. A truly underrated gem. Just listen to the strange motorik created by the drum beat and Kim's vocals when she sings "no more panty lies, lies, lies, ay, ay, ay, ay"
I always look forward to this song when I play WM.

Pantie Lies is weird.. little trouble girl too.. its like the band themselves didn't even know exactly what to do with them or what was going on

For years whenever i went to a sonic youth show i wanted to bring a sign that said "....days since the last LA The Diamond Sea" using mustang.com to get the right count..

Playing those two back to back is an hour well spent.. but im a biased dead head

Nah her voice does my tree in. It's made all the worse with that ay, ay, ay bit. I get halfway through the song and think "we'll have less of that, love" then skip it.

no queen blues and diamond sea are such a great vibe...

Amazing album and one of my favourites. Just a shame Panty Lies ruins the flow. What a stinker

I'm going to throw in my support for "Panty Lies"! It definitely had to grow on me, but it has. I like that they put the demo on the album, it totally has that vibe of them feeling it out. I like their "spooky"/skronky riffs and Lee's part seems particularly fun to me. The vocal isn't Kim's finest hour but it works and can even be infectious at times...

demo? didn't know that! would like hear the properly recorded version.

this calls for a WM deluxe ! :) (or just have a chance of hearing other '94-'96 outtakes.. )

Panty Lies fucking rocks.

THIS!




didn't they want to change their name to Washing Machine?


it really has a different feel and sound compare to their previous albums. more relaxed album as well. probably because it was recorded in Memphis, probably because SY were after "long-ish" break (Kim's pregnancy). also this album is like beginning of more "open-ended" cuts.

great artwork (especially inside of it).

I love all the songs on the album. excellent listen all the way throughout the album (well after thousands of listens over the years I've started skipping Little Trouble Girl). Becuz, No Queen Blues, Washing Machine, Skip Tracer, Diamond Sea...man! was not listening to this album for some time actually.

I was just getting into SY when this album came out, it was also when internet was starting kicking in (for me). /saucerlike.com - respect!/, university. happy days!

I will always regret I didn't go to see them live back then (800 km away, from where we were studying + they would not visit eastern Europe that often). some friends from university went. big Cure "heads". I remember one of them telling me about the gig, how cool it was, but also how the ending of the gig was way too much for him to take - as some sort of long never ending crazy noise he could barely withstand. later I learned they were closing WM tour with Diamond Sea, so you can imagine my disappointment. ahhh, would love to see WM live. well. besides had to wait few more years to see them live for a first time (Sonic Nurse), haha.

^

Watching now, loving technology:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vvL5KrEox4

thanks. great energy of the band.

3 guitars and drums!


I would love to hear Becuz in its original length around 7:30 min (Becuz+Untitled) and some hidden treasures from that era (if any exists) or demos (?)
+
just checked discogs for a price on used WM vinyl (which I don't have and would love to own sometime). starting off at around 69 quid.


yes, reissue would be nice.

Heh, I used to have a bootleg VHS of this, but it cut off after Becuz. Cool to see this, especially as Skink is one of my all time favourites!

This record, and A Thousand Leaves, are not my very, very favorites overall, but they are probably my two favorite SY records for live performance. And they were released consecutively, so that makes the mid-to-late nineties the live peak for SY in my book.

The title track, Diamond Sea, Becuz, even Junkie's Promise all came off so well on stage.

Ah, but that's the essence of the song! Her vocal, especially at the end, is so unsettling and awkward, which is why I love it. It takes guts to record a vocal like that.

Murray Street blows. ;)

I don't think it necessarily blows but its definitely not as a whole on the top of my list, though to be sure there are a few fantastic songs on that record, especially live.

Of course, no SY record blows. But the more time goes by, the more I realize this might be my least favorite. The best version of Rain on Tin I ever heard was the acoustic one from the Neil Young benefit concert.