Sleater-Kinney - The Woods

Released in 2005, The Woods marked a massive turning point for the Portland trio. As their first album for Sub Pop Records, it saw Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss intentionally dismantling their established sound to create something far more "riff-heavy" and experimental. Working with producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT) at Tarbox Road Studios, the band pushed their compositional boundaries into a raw, distorted territory that bordered on classic rock and heavy psychedelia, all while maintaining the fierce feminist identity at their core.

The album is famous for its dense, overblown production—a "wall of sound" where the guitars are pushed to the point of feedback and the drums hit with a monolithic, cavernous weight. Tracks like "The Fox" and "The Night Light" showcase a band operating at a new level of technical complexity, while the sprawling, eleven-minute improvisational centerpiece "Let's Call It Love" proved they were no longer bound by traditional punk structures. It is widely considered one of the greatest "final" albums of its era (prior to their decade-long hiatus), capturing a band at the absolute peak of their creative powers.

This reissue brings the colossal audio of The Woods back to vinyl, where the "warmth and fuzz" of the analog distortion can truly shine. Housed in a gatefold sleeve with its striking, nature-inspired artwork, the release serves as a reminder of why this record remains a high-water mark for 21st-century indie rock. It is a loud, uncompromising, and essential chapter of the Sleater-Kinney story.