Sleater-Kinney - "You're No Rock and Roll Fun"

All Hands on the Bad One was the first Sleater-Kinney album I listened to in my misguided youth. I had just learned about the wonders of copying CDs on to my computer and was combing the local public library music collection for anything new. At this point, I was probably still listening to a good amount of music that only contained double stops (hammer-ons if it was a super technical band) or a brass section was involved somehow. I had barely listened to the Clash, but Joe Strummer's albums with the Mescaleros somehow jumped out at me from the library shelves, as well as albums by Quicksand, the Velvet Underground and Morrissey. Sleater-Kinney's album was a curious case, however. It wasn't that there was more than one copy in the library system, but that there were two copies sitting right next to one another on the shelf. Since I was probably about 14, I didn't have a clue as to what that meant, but every damn time I would go back, there those two copies of the gray and orange CD would be sitting.

Finally, I decided to take it home and give it a listen. I didn't get it. Joe Strummer, now there's a guy I could get behind. He's way punk and I didn't know anything about riot grrl, let alone the Pacific Northwest (outside of say... Nirvana). My primitive brain could barely handle the complexities of To Kill a Mockingbird at this time. What makes you think I'd understand two guitars and a drummer WITHOUT a bass player?

Thank god I revisited the album some years later (a lot later than I'm happy to admit). I made myself a hard copy of the CD and then my hard drive crashed. When I was re-ripping my music on to my new computer, I came across the CD and really listened to what I had missed out on all those years where the album sat next to all those damn Travis CDs that I copied as well.

"You're No Rock and Roll Fun" is probably one of my favorite Sleater-Kinney songs. Who knew the girl from Heavens to Betsy could sing without screaming and write a great pop song at that? If someone were to tell me that knowing only of the K Records era girl bands, I wouldn't believe it. The guitar riffs are complicated, but not difficult and the drumming of Janet Weiss is something special. It's funny saying that, considering all the other songs that Janet plays, be it with Sleater-Kinney or with Quasi; the drum parts on a lot of Sleater-Kinney's early recordings are a bit tame, but the technique is there. In the later years, the recordings got better, especially the drum sound. There were no more hesitations, no tentativeness, but the exacting timing and technique were still there.

I had the pleasure of seeing Janet Weiss' drumming up close last night as she played with Quasi. I've always really admired her drumming, but seeing it live took my respect to a whole new level. It seemed like she was playing every song as if it were the last Sleater-Kinney show. What I'm trying to say is that there is no "off" position for musicians like that, and that's probably the most admirable quality in any aspect of life.

I probably shouldn't be reflecting on the genius of Janet Weiss' drum sound at 1am, so I leave you with this, another great youtube find. I don't need to explain it and I don't know that I could even if I really wanted to.