SLEATER-KINNEY The Woods (2005 US 10-track CD album in a triple gatefold LP style card sleeve 12-page lyric booklet SP670) After its most prolonged absence from the recording studio, has reloaded with a smouldering rock and roll record that rivals John Lennon?s Plastic Ono Band and Nirvana?s In Utero in terms of unexpectedness. It is a 180-degree proclamation to the album which came before it. Producer David Fridmann (Weezer, Flaming Lips) coaxed the Portland, Oragan trio to retool its approach to making music. The results are startling and far and away the most collaborative, experimental and risky in the band?s seven-record career. Corin Tucker?s supreme guttural form is on display from the lead-off track "The Fox"--a would-be children?s tale overridden by crunching power chords and drummer Janet Weiss?s battering percussion. The Woods tugs on your ear musically and stabs at your heart lyrically on riff-wielding jaunts "Wilderness," "Modern Girl" and "Rollercoaster." The live-in-one-take, 11-minute blockbuster "Let?s Call It Love" unleashes Carrie Brownstein?s foray into guitar-solo psychedelia. Haven?t heard Sleater-Kinney yet? Try Dig Me Out and work your way forward. Already on board? Find a steady chair, feel your ears bleed and watch your speakers disintegrate. --Scott Holter