[rating=3.50]
In lieu of the litany of great female groups who’ve emerged since Sleater-Kinney’s demise–Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Lights, Brilliant Colors, Pussy Riot, even Wild Flag featuring former members Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss arguably speaking–none can truly match the unbridled intensity that made the Olympia trio’s decade in rock so memorable.
This is due to the catalyst of that fury going off the grid to become a full-time mom. But with parenthood comes the need for primal scream therapy, and just as Corin Tucker raged through the Riot Grrrl years on such punk masterpieces as Call the Doctor and Dig Me Out, not to mention the first Heavens to Betsy LP, the domesticated singer/guitarist once again utilizes her lungs I’m only presuming as a form of catharsis from the joys and pains of raising youths with the same level of gusto on her second solo outing, Kill My Blues. Flanked by her Corin Tucker Band comprised of Seth Lorienzi of Golden Bears fame, former Unwound drummer Sara Lund and Stephen Malkmus’s Jicks guitarist Mike Clark, Tucker indeed turns it up on these dozen new songs in a way she hasn’t since The Hot Rock.
Whereas her solo debut, 1000 Years, showcased her range beyond punk, Blues sees Tucker running back into the arms of her DIY roots with reckless abandon. Mama’s got some steam to blow off, and boy does she ever on this outstanding work, where her Ian Mackaye-cum-Aretha Franklin wail is full throttle on such high impact material as "Goundhog Day" and "Neskowin". And though she might venture into Pretenders territory on "Joey" and jack the intro to Led Zeppelin’s "Achilles Last Stand" on "Blood, Bones and Sand", Corin never strays too far from the root sound of Kill My Blues. which is reckless in its nature and in possession of an unshakable drive which proves to remain fervently intact in the essence of a singer the likes of she regardless of age or social status.-
