Search - Spells :: Age of Backwards

It's only 8 minutes... unless you hit repeat!!

10/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe this is biased, because as far as I am concerned, Mary Timony can do no wrong. And she definitly hasnt let me down on this wonderful record. I can't say enough good things about "Octaves Apart", and... even though I'm not the biggest Sleater-Kinney fan, Carrie compliments Mary very well. Why dont you own this peice of pop perfection already????"

Excellent, but really short

08/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well this just what you could have expected from a meeting of the musical minds behind Sleater-Kinney and Helium: it's great. But I wish the result had been more substantial than an eight minute ep. And maybe I could have done without the Who cover."

Definitely not my cup of tea.

D. Mok | Los Angeles, CA | 04/04/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney is without question one of the great guitarists of today. But somehow, when coupled with Mary Timony (ex-Helium), the resulting music falls far short of expectations.Brownstein's trademark complex melodies and clean tones are still there, but the songwriting is well below par, with nothing like the musical fire of "Dig Me Out", "The End of You" or "Far Away" to inspire Brownstein to new heights. Her singing has always been an acquired taste, but whereas it serves as a breath of fresh air in Sleater-Kinney when juxtaposed against Corin Tucker's passionate growl and Janet Weiss' hard-hitting rhythms, in The Spells her voice is too thin, too unsupported, and just not interesting to listen to. Timony's singing has never been appealing to me either, but the songwriting is really what makes this EP fall short.Perhaps a case of what could've been. Not surprisingly, Timony and Brownstein haven't followed up on this project. Thankfully, Sleater-Kinney's One Beat is just looming on the horizon..."