Sleater-Kinney
's masterful sophomore effort
Call the Doctor
fulfills all the promise of the group's debut and more, forging taut melodicism and jaw-dropping sonic complexity out of barbed-wire emotional potency. The emergence of
Carrie Brownstein
as an equal shareholder in
Corin Tucker
's vision is the key -- her four contributions (particularly
"Stay Where You Are"
and
"I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone"
) are stellar, while her harmonies complete
Tucker
's equally superb lead turns by reading between the lines to verbalize the naked aggression at the core of the songs' polemic power. Forget the
riot grrrl
implications inherent in the trio's music --
is pure, undiluted
punk
, and it's brilliant. [
was re-released on LP in 2014.] ~ Jason Ankeny