Fluxblog
August 15th, 2019 1:54pm

Can’t Find The Thrill Anymore


Sleater-Kinney “Can I Go On”

I don’t have a problem with Sleater-Kinney trying new things, since trying new things have served them well in the past. But it’s funny how “new things” is a very relative notion. Sleater-Kinney are indeed experimenting with “new things” on their 9th album The Center Won’t Hold, but to my ears, it mostly sounds like musical ideas that have been cycled through and chewed up by many lesser bands over the course of their existence. The elements of these songs that sound fresh and vital are the types of melodies and dynamics that have been with Sleater-Kinney all along, and the bits that feel “new” or at least unlike classic S-K sound a lot like drab major label radio rock from the past decade or so. In some cases, like “Ruins” or “Bad Dance,” the production moves work for the songs, albeit in a vaguely cheesy way – you know, like how if you wear certain clothes it will look more like a costume on you than an outfit? On other songs, like “Reach Out,” you get fabulous verses that are weighed down by an uninspired chorus that sounds too much like the bland hooks churned out by pro songwriters to blend in with the overall dynamics of contemporary radio.

Of all the new songs, “Can I Go On” is the one that best connects the particular spirit of classic S-K to a glossier studio aesthetic. It’s fairly light and boppy, and with its tone and processing, it comes out sounding a bit like a song that could’ve been used in an Apple iPod ad circa the mid 2000s. (You know, back when they were busy splitting the planet in half on The Woods.) Carrie Brownstein’s voice is bright and enthusiastic as she sings about feeling grim and drained, approaching the album’s theme of crushed hope and disconnection from a more personal and low-key perspective. It’s a song that answers is its own questions in music as they are expressed in lyrics – she sings “maybe I’m not sure I wanna go on,” but her voice and the energy behind the music make it clear that she very much is, despite it all.

Buy it from Amazon.

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