"Could you show me your riffs"
5
By B_Michael
When One Beat revived protest rock in the aftermath of September 11th, the rock cultural critic institution re-evaluated the discography of Sleater-Kinney and found that their lo-fi riot grrl debut and All Hands on the Bad One were found wanting. I recall a Rolling Stone article that referred to this album as "the only dog biscuit in the bunch," a rather dismissive but inscrutable form of critique. But, All Hands on the Bad One found the experimentation of the angular and angst-laden previous album (The Hot Rock) tempered with girl group backing vocals and an outsider pop sensibility. The handclap beats and guitar interplay have a refreshing and focused intensity and their lyrics are clever and political without being smug or didactic. Ever since Dig Me Out there has always been something about Sleater-Kinney that connects their subsequent releases to specific time periods (The Hot Rock had the pervasive pre-Millennial Y2K technophobia which must be why most younger fans find it difficult to decipher and One Beat captured the spirit of public mourning and outrage following the war mongering era that used tragedy to justify economic investments in invading the Middle East) but even if references to the rapes at Woodstock 99 or the Spice Girl co-optation of girl power marks the songs on All Hands on the Bad One they are phrased eloquently with enough subtlety to have a universal significance. Pitchforkmedia reviewed the Fox from the pre-indefinite hiatus album as the first time they found Sleater-Kinney to be fun, I encourage them to revisit this entire album especially You're No Rock and Roll Fun, Ballad of a Ladyman, The Professional, Leave You Behind and Pompeii.
