Path of Wellness, the first album Brownstein and Tucker produced themselves, takes cues from Sleater-Kinney’s forebears in punk and classic rock. (Those still looking for more Carrie and St. Vincent lore can check out the forthcoming mockumentary The Nowhere Inn, which stars both.) The title track and opener serves jagged post-punk riffage and disorienting percussion; later, the chugging “Method” swaggers like ‘70s Alice Cooper, while “Down the Line” tries out the start-stop rhythms and “I know it’s all right” refrains of Led Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days.” The songs are lean and tastefully executed; throughout the album, splashes of notes from bass, clavinet, and Fender Rhodes organ add hues without obscuring the primary colors of Tucker and Brownstein’s guitar playing.
Seems like Carrie is more or less confirming what Janet said here
In 2019, Janet Weiss suggested that she had been shut out of decision-making processes in the band and that waswhy she left. I’m curious how you feel about that characterization.
CB: I mean, anyone who thinks there aren’t multiple perspectives and sides to this is either being willfully ignorant or perhaps lacks their own real-life experience. To be honest, I’m not interested in continuing to talk about something that really seems to revel in female cattiness and conjecture and confirmation bias.
Corin suggesting she’s not a massive fan of TCWH
CT: We’d never really written with keyboards. We tried a lot of different things. I’m not saying they were all successful, but it was different. We were able to take those new skills and put them to use on this new album.
Agreed, but for me it’s still something I don’t think would grab me on its own merits if I didn’t know the band. Bit worrying that these are the lead singles
It sounds like they’ve rolled back on the sound for The Center Won’t Hold but it’s not really got loads of life. I guess maybe the album will zing as a whole but I’ve rarely gone back to the TCWH beyond the lead single.
I mean I still massively enjoy Weezer’s Blue album and I’m sure I still would even if they’d put out any follow up albums even if they were all bad or dull.
It’s good that, kinda reminds me of Jenny Lewis’s last album. Really like Worry With Me, thought the next one was a bit meh, but this is nice. Gonna be a pretty mellow album isn’t it.