Dec 14

One Beat

ONE BEAT
 
 
One Beat  is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on August 20, 2002 by Kill Rock Stars.  It was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded between March and April 2002 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon.  The album peaked at number 107 in the United States on the Billboard 200 and entered the Billboard Top Independent Albums at number five.  One Beat was very well received by critics.  Praise centered on its cathartic delivery and progressive polemics.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
However, that certainly was not true of all of the female musicians in that time period.  Though I was slow to get the details, I was starting to hear about the rumblings of the “riot grrrl” movement, a female offshoot of punk rock; about all I had actually heard in the early days is the 1992 hit “Pretend We’re Dead” by a band called L7 (slang for “square”).  Singer/guitarist Corin Tucker was in Heavens to Betsy, one of many early riot grrrl rock duos.  The fact that only two people could create such a big sound was a revelation and led to a slew of other two-member rock bands in the years to come.  Classically trained pianist Carrie Brownstein (also a vocalist and guitarist) met Tucker in 1992 and was so inspired by her and other early riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill that she started her own grrrl band, Excuse 17.  What began as a side project between the two of them became a full-fledged band with the addition of drummer Lora MacFarlane; MacFarlane was replaced by the third album with another drummer, Janet Weiss.  The arrival of Sleater-Kinney’s lo-fi–looking first album in 1995, Sleater-Kinney (appropriately released on a label called Chainsaw Records) quickly established them as one of the finest feminist punk rock bands of that period.  Each album brought them greater fame and a more widespread fan base; by the beginning of the new millennium, Sleater-Kinney had enough mainstream appeal that Time magazine named them America’s best rock band in a 2001 issue.  Their 2002 album, One Beat is one of my very favorite albums of the 2000’s decade. 
 
(January 2013)
 
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Sleater-Kinney released a second album on Chainsaw Records, Call the Doctor which brought the band greater renown; this is probably around the time that I read the article on the band in Indianapolis.  Shortly thereafter, Sleater-Kinney was signed by a record company headquartered in the heart of riot grrrl territory in Olympia, WA having the delightful name of Kill Rock Stars.  With Janet Weiss as the new drummer (originally in Quasi), each of their four albums for this label seemed better than the last, culminating in One Beat (2002). 

 

For me, Sleater-Kinney has transcended all of these categories.  Their songwriting is simply brilliant and as varied as anyone I can think of.  What Sleater-Kinney can do with their guitars (and without a bass guitar in sight) is a revelation.  Corin Tucker’s lead vocals aren’t everyone's cup of tea (they tell me), but they suit me just fine, and those of Carrie Brownstein do as well.  I have little doubt that I have played One Beat more than any other album that has been released in the current century; my second favorite among their albums (at the moment at least) is their first, Sleater-Kinney.  Original drummer Lora MacFarlane performs the vocals on the truly marvelous “Lora’s Song” on that album that reminds me of past UARB Fur.   

 

(January 2014)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021