After 2002's politically charged fury of rock that was One Beat, it was well apparent to anyone that's followed the ladies of Sleater-Kinney religiously that they were headed towards a crossroads of sorts by becoming more of a mature rock band and leaving most of their Punk/Riot Grrrl rock approach behind them. That crossroads has led them to The Woods, their debut album for Sub Pop records and first time collaboration with super producer Dave Fridmann.

To me, Fridmann (most famous for his Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev productions) seemed like an odd choice for a Sleater-Kinney record, but then again that's what I thought when he decided to produce Phantom Planet's self-titled record last year, and that ended up being one of my favorite albums of 2004. Unfortunately though, Fridmann sounds completely lost in The Woods, seemingly clueless at times in trying to steer the ladies in this new direction they're heading. Over the past months stories have been leaking out that Fridmann and Sleater-Kinney both found these sessions more than challenging, and that's quite obvious after a few listens. Most of The Woods sound like Corin Tucker and company are trying to move into Led Zeppelin type classic rock territory with a garage sensibility, but mostly it just comes off bloated and overly self-indulgent. Parts of the track "What's Mine Is Yours" sound so much like a straight "Whole Lotta Love" lift that I almost expected Robert Plant to chime in with "Shake for me girl! I wanna be your back door man!" at any minute.

Thankfully some parts of The Woods really do click, especially the 10-minute behemoth "Let's Call It Love" that leads into the beautiful closer "Night Light" If all of The Woods would have been as on-the-money as these two tracks this collaboration could have really been something. No doubt there will be some who'll consider this album to be phenomenal, because both parties came out of their shells and took some huge risks, but most of the time I spent in The Woods, felt more like I was listening to a badly squandered opportunity. The Woods is a decent album, but it's certainly not up to the level of greatness of past Sleater-Kinney works.