The Liar

The Lookers
In Clover

Goodness. This is, by far, the hardest band look-up I've had to do. If you click the links, you'll see a large sample of the dearth of information out there on this band. Typically, for me, I'll say that's just a shame. The good news is that, if you find a copy of the album, it's bound to be super cheap.

Fronted by Sarah Dougher, The Lookers put out their one and only album in 1997 on Candy Ass Records. It immediately tanked. Somehow, a promo copy found me across the country, and I played the hell out of that album. Being the almighty third in charge at the record store has its privileges. Ms. Dougher, along with drummer sts (not a typo), also recorded under the name Cadallaca with Corin Tucker. She also released a handful of solo discs. This album, though, is the cream of the crop.

It was saddled with the throwaway line on the back cover of the album "Add this to your dyke-pop collection". Such posturing may have made it difficult to pick up a niche in the flooded music market of the late '90s, and the band may have overestimated the call for more lesbian musicians. You can ask any number of other Candy Ass acts about that (The Vegas Beat comes to mind, as well). That doesn't keep this album from being a great album, though.


I would put this as a female counterpoint the The Van Pelt's Sultans of Sentiment, an album whose clean lines and laid-back vibe belies the amount of hurt under the surface. As for "The Liar" itself, this track is a perfect microcosm of the album. If I ever decide to add mp3s to this blog, come on back and see what I'm talking about. It's a simple formula: Active drums put low in the mix, 2 clean guitars and a clear voice. But The Lookers were more than the easy dissection of their parts. While the formula may have been simple, the band itself was more than complex (whatever that may mean).

Let's Call It Love

Sleater-Kinney
The Woods

I'm going to go ahead and call it. The Woods was my favorite album from 2005. All skronk and squeal, it was. Hell, I'm getting goosebumps just sitting here and listening to the first minute of the track. If you ever dismissed S-K as the band equivalent of several yapping dogs (which, at times, they certainly were), take a listen to this album. They found their niche just in time to break up.

This song is the l-o-n-g one on the album, clocking at approximately 11 minutes. You get all of the promised skronk right off the bat, with the guitar feeling more like it was pulled from a jam session at Emissions From the Monolith than from anyone involved in Cadallaca. Pure bliss for a noise-a-phile like me. You'll get the squeal, as well. I don't know that Corin Tucker really has another setting, but it's much more restrained here than on early releases. I mean, I went back and listened to Dig Me Out last year and God, what a difficult album to listen to. It's all screech all the time. But I loved it then like I love this album now.

The real highlight of this track for me kicks in at around the three minute mark. The track bridges from one section of dirge to another. In so doing, we are treated to the parts of S-K that were always its strengths. Janet Weiss' staccato drumming meshes with Carrie Brownstein's stuttering delivery of lines. All of the sudden, a song that felt like an uneasy hug from a distant aunt shakes you awake with the jolt of a triple espresso, but only long enough to make you realize that the gas leak is still going to put you to sleep, and soon.

Finally, I feel I must address something that has bothered me for years. I hated Sleater-Kinney as a live act. Now, I only saw them once, but it was just so bland. The set just never revved up like it should have. It just felt like they were stuck in idle all night long. Even when they closed with Fortunate Son from America's Best Ever Band(tm), CCR, with 50 people on stage, it felt like it was a chore of sorts to them. For someone that had, at that point, internalized their albums, it was a real disappointment to be treated, along with about 400 other people, as if we were something to be endured rather than appreciated.

I'm guessing that's not Janet Weiss in the photo. I remember that cover, but I don't remember who the previous drummer was. I'm sure it's not important anyway.
Extra bonus fun!!: S-K's wikipedia page is locked due to consistent vandalism, most of which seems to stem from someone who thinks they grew up too rich. Go check the history page.