Corin Tucker (845 views)

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Corin Tucker (November 9, 1972)
Vocal Range: B♭2 - D6
Years Active: 1991 - present
Associated Acts: Sleater-Kinney, The Corin Tucker Band, Heartless Martin, Heavens to Betsy, Cadallaca, Filthy Friends

SPOILER: Click to show

{Discography}
Heartless Martin
Tonight (1993): D3 - B4

Heavens to Betsy
Heavens to Betsy (1992, Demo): F3 - C♯5
These Monsters Are Real (1993, EP): A3 - D6
Direction (1994, EP): B3 – D5
Calculated (1994): F♯3 - F♯5 - G5

Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney (1995): B3 - B5
Call the Doctor (1996): F♯3 - F♯5
Dig Me Out (1997): G3 - A5
The Hot Rock (1999): E♭3 - F5
All Hands on the Bad One (2000): E3 - F♯5 - C♯6
One Beat (2002): E3 - C♯6
The Woods (2005): D3 - B♭5
No Cities to Love (2015): B♭2 - E5
The Center Won’t Hold (2019): C♯3 - C6 - C♯6
Path of Wellness (2021): C♯3 - D5

Cadallaca
Introducing Cadallaca (1998): D3 - D5
Out West (1999, EP): G3 - E5 - B5

The Corin Tucker Band
1,000 Years (2010): C♯3 - D5
Kill My Blues (2012): E3 - G5

Filthy Friends
Invitation (2017): E3 - D5
Emerald Valley (2019): B2 - D5
+ singles, guest appearances and other performances

Significant High Notes:
D6 ("Monsters")
C♯6 (“Can I Go On”, “Icy Cool Sea Breeze / Wipers”, “One Beat”, “The Professional”)
C6 (“Groundhog Day”, “Hurry On Home”)
B5 (“A Real Man”, “Combat Rock”, "Monsters", “Out West”, “The Fox” (live at Hollywood Palladium, 2015))
B♭5 (“Rollercoaster”, “RUINS”)
A5 (“Milkshake n’ Honey”, “The Drama You've Been Craving")
G♯5 ("Be Yr Mama", “Entertain”, “Let’s Call It Love”, “Oh!”, “RUINS”)
G5 (“A Real Man”, “Jumpers”, “Hollywood Ending”, “Rollercoaster”, "Stay Away", “Summer Jams”)
F♯5 ("Be Yr Mama", "Combat Rock”, “Complicated", "Everything", "Heart Factory", “Light Rail Coyote”, "Nothing Can Stop Me", “Oh!”, “One Beat”, "Sold Out", "Terrorist", "Sympathy”, “The Ballad of a Ladyman”, “The Drama You've Been Craving", “The Fox”, “The Professional”, "Waitress Hell", “Wilderness”)
F5 ("Burn, Don't Freeze!", “Firefly", “Step Aside”, “The Center Won’t Hold”)
E5 (“A New Wave”, “A Real Man”, "Angry Inch”, “Axemen", "Backlit”, “Big Big Lights”, “By The Time You're Twenty Five", "Combat Rock”, “Complicated", “Entertain”, “Everything", "Fade”, “Heart Attack", “Hollywood Ending”, "Hunger Strike", "It's Enough", “Joey”, “Jumpers”, "Let’s Call It Love”, “Little Mouth", “Male Model”, "Neskowin”, “No Cities To Love”, “Nothing Can Stop Me”, "One Beat”, “Pompeii”, “Rollercoaster”, "RUINS”, "Stay Where You Are", “Steep Air”, “Step Aside”, "Summer Jams”, “The Trouble With Public Places”, "Turn It On", “Wilderness”, “Youth Decay”)
E♭5 ("Be Yr Mama", "Can I Go On”, “Fangless”, “Firefly", "Gimme Love”, “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone", "Not What You Want", "Sold Out", "The Fog And Filthy Air", "Waitress Hell", “Write Me Back, Fucker”, You Ain’t It!”, "You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun”)
D5 (“#1 Must Have”, "Bad Dance”, “Big Big Lights”, “By The Time You're Twenty Five", "Calculated", "Complicated", "Constance”, “Count On Me", Dig Me Out", "Direction", “Doubt”, “Emerald Valley”, “Far Away”, “Get Out Of My Head”, “Groundhog Day”, “Joey”, “June-n-July”, Let’s Call It Love”, “Living In Exile”, “Milkshake n’ Honey”, “Neskowin”, “Night Light”, “Night Vandals”, “No Cities To Love”, “Nothing Can Stop Me”, “One More Hour", "Party Girls", Price Tag”, “Rollercoaster”, “Steep Air”, “Surface Envy”, “Terrorist", "The Arrival”, “The Ballad of a Ladyman”, “The Elliott”, "The Fog And Filthy Air", “The Glamorous Life", Tiptoe”, “Worry With You”, “You Ain’t It!”, “Youth Decay”)
C♯5 (“A Quarter to Three”, “All Hands on the Bad One”, “Anonymous", "Axemen", “Baby’s Gone”, "Burn, Don't Freeze", "Bury Our Friends”, “Call The Doctor", "Can I Go On”, “Combat Rock”, “Dance Song '97", “Despierta”, “Don’t Talk Like”, “Don't Think You Wanna", "Donating My Body To Science", “Everything", "Factors Unknown", "Fade”, “Giraffe", "God Is A Number", “Heart Factory", "Her Again”, "High In The Grass”, “Hubcap", "Hurry On Home”, “I Don’t Wanna Go”, “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone", "I'm Not Waiting", “Icy Cool Sea Breeze / Wipers”, “Invitation”, “Ironclad”, "It's Enough, “Light Rail Coyote”, "Little Mouth", "Jenny", "Memorize Your Lines”, “More Than A Feeling”, “My Secret", "My Stuff", “No Anthems”, "Not What You Want", "O2”, “One Beat”, “One Song for You”, “Pompeii”, “Prisstina”, "Pulling Pieces”, “RUINS”, “Shine On”, “Sold Out", "Stay Where You Are", ”Step Aisde”, “Sympathy”, "Taking Me Home", "The Ballad of a Ladyman”, “The Center Won’t Hold”, “The Dog/The Body”, “The End Of You", “The Fox”, "The Future Is Here”, “The Ones”, “The Reminder”, “Turn It On", "Waitress Hell", “What If I Was Right", "What’s Mine Is Yours”, “Write Me Back, Fucker”, "You Decide", "You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun”)
C5 ("A New Wave”, “Angry Inch”, “Bad Dance”, “Big Goodbye”, “Broken”, “Brother”, “Complex Female Characters”, “Complicated", "Decide", "Direction", “Driving Song”, “Favorite Neighbor”, “Firetrap”, "Gimme Love”, “I Don’t Wanna Go”, “I'm Not Waiting", "Kill My Blues”, “Last Chance County”, “Lions and Tigers", "O Shenila”, “One Flew East”, “Out West”, “Paralyzed", “Price Tag”, “Steep Air”, “The Center Won’t Hold”, “The Elliott”, “The Ones”, "The Trouble With Public Places”, “Thrift Store Coats”, “Tiptoe”, “Winter Storm ‘98”, “Words and Guitar", “Your One Wish”)
B4 (“1,000 Years”, “#1 Must Have”, “10 Million BC”, “A New Wave”, “A Real Man”, “Ain’t Never Goin’ Back”, “Any Kind of Crowd”, “Baby’s Gone”, “Backlit”, Banned from the End of the World”, "Be Yr Mama", “Big Big Lights”, "Big Goodbye”, “Blood, Bones and Sand”, “Break Me”, “Come Back Shelley”, “Constance”, “Count On Me”, “Dance Song '97", "Decide", "Dig Me Out", "Don’t Talk Like”, “Don't Think You Wanna", “Down The Line”, “Driving Song”, “Entertain”, “Everything", "Faded Afternoon”, “Far Away”, “Fangless”, “Favorite Neighbor”, “Firetrap”, “Fortunate Son”, “Get Out Of My Head”, “Get Up”, “Girrafe", "Good Things", "Groundhog Day”, “Hell”, “Her Again”, “Hey Darling”, “High In The Grass”, “Hollywood Ending”, “Hunger Strike", "I Don’t Care”, “Icy Cool Sea Breeze / Wipers”, “Ironclad”, "It's Enough", "Joey”, “Johnny”, “Jumpers”, "Last Chance County”, “Let’s Call It Love”, “Little Babies", “Living in Exile”, “LOVE”, “Male Model”, "Maraca (live at Cambridge, 1999), "Me & Her", “Miles Away”, “Milkshake n’ Honey”, “Monsters", “More Than A Feeling”, “My Stuff", “Neskowin”, "Night Light”, “No Anthems”, “No Bad News Tonight”, “No Cities To Love”, “None Like You”, “Not What You Want", "Nothing Can Stop Me”, “November Man”, “O2”, "Off With Your Head”, “Oh!”, “One More Hour", “One Song for You”, “Out West”, "Paralyzed", “Pipeline”, “Pompeii”, “Reach Out”, “Scarface”, “Second Life”, “Seek and Hide”, "Shadow Haze”, “Shine On”, “Slow Song", "Space Jam" (live with Helium at Philadelphia, 1998), Start Together", "Stay Away", “Stay Dead”, “Surface Envy”, “Summer Jams”, “Surf Song”, “Sympathy”, "Tapping", "Taste Test", "Terrorist", "The Fog And Filthy Air", “The Glamorous Life", The Golden State”, “Things You Say", "Turn It On", “Two Beers Later”, "Waitress Hell", “What’s Yours Is Mine”, “White Rabbit", "You Ain’t It!”, “You and Your King”, “You’re The Only One”, “Youth Decay”)

Significant Low Notes:
A3 (“#1 Must Have”, "Bad Dance”, “Break Me”, “Bury Our Friends”, “Buy Her Candy", "Calculated", "Combat Rock”, “Decide", “Despierta”, “Dig Me Out", "Entertain”, “Fade”, “Faded Afternoon”, “Good Food”, “Groundhog Day”, “Factory”, “Favorite Neighbor”, “Handed Love”, "Heavy (When I Feel It)", “Hey Darling”, “I Don’t Wanna Go”, “It’s Always Summer”, “Invitation”, “Last Chance County”, “Leave You Behind”, “Let’s Call It Love”, “Lions and Tigers", "Little Babies", "Male Model”, “My Stuff", "No Bad News Tonight”, “No Cities To Love”, “Nothing Can Stop Me”, “O Shenila”, "Outgoing Message”, “Party Girls", "Playground", “Pocket Games”, “Pompeii”, “Prisstina”, “Pulling Pieces”, “Restless”, “Riley”, “Seek and Hide”, "Steep Air”, “Sympathy”, “The End Of You", “The Reminder”, “White Rabbit", "Worry With You”)
G♯3 ("Anonymous", "Bring Mercy”, “Call The Doctor", "Count On Me”, “Dance Song '97", “Down The Line”, “Fade”, “Funeral Song”, “Get Up”, “Good Things", "I'm Not Waiting", “Icy Cool Sea Breeze / Wipers”, "Heart Attack", "Heart Factory", "Hot Rock", "Hurry On Home”, “Leave You Behind”, “Little Mouth", “Method”, “My Red Self”, “O2”, “Only Lovers Are Broken”, “Restless”, “Stay Where You Are", "Taste Test", "The Dog/The Body”, “Turn It On”, “Wilderness”, “Write Me Back, Fucker”, “You Ain’t It!”, “You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun”)
G3 (“Broken”, “Complex Female Characters”, “Don’t Talk Like”, “Emerald Valley”, “Factory”, “Fake Karaoke Machine”, “Groundhog Day”, "Hunger Strike", “It’s Always Summer”, “Last Chance County”, “Little Babies", "Miles Away”, “No Cities To Love”, “Nothing Can Stop Me”, “Out West”, “Pulling Pieces”, “Riley”, “Seek and Hide”, “Some Kind of Velvet Sunday Morning”,“The Arrival”, "The Glamorous Life", “Thrift Store Coats”, “Tiptoe”, “Tomorrow’s Grave”, “White Girl", “Winter Storm ‘98”)
F♯3 (“1,000 Years”, "Big Goodbye”, “Blood, Bones and Sand”, “Bury Our Friends”, “Come Back Shelley”, “Complicated", “Despierta”, “Factors Unknown", "Get Up”, "Heart Attack", "Hubcap", "I'm Not Waiting", “Icy Cool Sea Breeze / Wipers”, “Invitation”, "Johnny”, “Light Rail Coyote”, “Memorize Your Lines”, “Method”, “My Red Self”, "My Stuff", “Night Vandals”, “No Knives”, “Shadow Town”, “Shine On”, “Sympathy”, "Paralyzed", "Taste Test", “The Ballad of a Ladyman”, “The Size of Our Love”, “You Ain’t It!”)
F3 (“Complex Female Characters”, “Doubt”, " Heavy (When I Feel It)", “Milkshake n’ Honey”, “One Flew East”, “Seek and Hide”,”Thrift Store Coats”)
E3 (“1,000 Years”, “20/20 Vision”, “Any Kind of Crowd”, “Big Goodbye”, “Blood, Bones and Sand”, “Break Me”, “Despierta”, “Half a World Away”, “Handed Love”, “High In The Grass”, “Lions and Tigers", "None Like You”, “Prisstina”, “Restless”, “Second Life”, “Shine On”, “The Fox”, “Was It A Lie?”, “Worry With You”)
E♭3 (“Get Up”, “Hurry On Home”, “No Knives”, “Path of Wellness”, “Tomorrow’s Grave”, “The Future Is Here”)
D3 (“20/20 Vision”, “Fangless”, “Favorite Neighbor”, “Handed Love”, “Hell”, “Night Vandals”, “One Flew East”, “Pipeline”, “Shadow Town”, “The Fox”, "Thrift Store Coats" (Several live versions))
C♯3 (“Path of Wellness”, “Pulling Pieces”, “The Future Is Here”)
B2 (“No Anthems”, “Pipeline”)
B♭2 (“No Anthems”)

Blue marks falsetto/head voice notes
Green marks harshly distorted/screamed notes
Bold marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities
Underline marks obscured notes
Italics mark non-melodic notes

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}
An artist of paramount importance to the riot grrrl movement, punk and just rock in general, Corin Tucker's legacy in music ever since the 90's is quite evident. From the essential female-fronted punk band Heavens to Betsy to the acclaimed rock group Sleater-Kinney to a bevy of additional musical projects under her belt, Corin has blazed trails with her punchy, low guitar playing, unavoidable feminist/politically inspired ideals in her music which call to bring attention to the disenfranchised and oppressed, and one of the strongest voices in rock music by large. On a first listen, Corin's vocals hit like a sledgehammer, with a passionate, vibrato heavy soprano belt that is surprisingly technical and well-maintained, but never technical enough that it feels manufactured. It will catch you instantly and it will ring through the vast majority of her signature tracks. With that said, there are more layers to her voice than that, and quite an interesting progression in her vocal range and style.

As expected for more of an early DIY project, Corin Tucker circa the early 90's (Heavens to Betsy particularly) had no qualms about a rough around the edges, soul-baring delivery. In this period of her music, she would hit extremely distorted shrieks and her iconic shaking vibrato would be heard at its most intense and shaky. Crossing into the late 90's (around 1996's Call The Doctor), a slight bit of refinement ensued in Corin's vocals, with the same kind of energetic, impassioned wailing finding a stronger sense of pitch and balance. The upper 4th and lower 5th octave were basically in her full control, notably with an abundance of soaring sustained C♯5's (arguably her favorite note to hit at this time). Her vocal evolution culminated around 2004-2006 with recording and touring for The Woods, in which some of the greatest vocal performances ever heard in rock music history were unleashed. Her belting comfort now seemed the reach the mid-to-upper 5th octave, her tone masterfully went from vicious to lusciously restrained when the performance called for it and each perform just seemed better than the last.

After the initial split between Sleater-Kinney, a new era would commence for Corin's vocals, though not one too different from what had been heard previously; in short, more subtlety and usage of lower notes. While she had demonstrated potential with her lower register in past projects, it was merely not emphasized in them and perhaps not as strong at the time. From 2010 onwards, starting with albums released under the Corin Tucker Band name, mid-to-lower range vocals was made more present for her than before, providing a dynamic counterpoint to her high belting register which more comfortably went around A4 to D5. A reformed Sleater-Kinney album from 2015 balanced out Corin's newfound stone fox tone (leading to her low note magnum opus in 2019, "The Future Is Here") and her murderous 5th octave wail (consistently heard on "Gimme Love" and "Surface Envy"), while records with a different group of hers, Filthy Friends, displayed a cooler, calmer style compared to that of Chrissie Hynde. Still holding a strong, resonant belt when a track needs it, Corin Tucker remains a dynamic powerhouse performer with a one-of-a-kind voice that could've easily fizzled out if it were not as well preserved as it has been.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
E7 (“Out West [2][5])
E♭6 ("Giraffe" (Live at Seattle, 2003) [1])
B5 (“Hollywood Ending” [3], “Method” [1], The Trouble with Public Places” [3])
G♯5 ("The Ones" [3])
G5 (“Last Chance County” [1])
F♯5 (“Neskowin” [2])
F5 (“Bad Dance” [3])
E5 (“Movie Theme Song” [2][3])

E3 (“The Arrival” [3])
D3 (“Broken” [1], “Doubt” [3])
C♯3 (“Tomorrow’s Grave” [3])
B2 (“Come Back Shelley” [3], “Milkshake n’ Honey” [3], “Prisstina” [3])
A2 (“Was It A Lie?” [3])
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bolded Notes}
B♭5 ("RUINS")
G♯5 ("Let's Call It Love")
F♯5 ("The Fox", "Wilderness")
E5 ("Everything" (see also, the C♯5s in the chorus, specifically 2:00))
E♭5 ("Gimme Love")
C♯5 ("God Is A Number", "I'm Not Waiting", "Not What You Want", "Step Aside")
C5 ("Complicated")
B4 ("Count On Me", "Far Away")

F♯3 ("The Ballad of a Ladyman"
F3 ("Heavy (When I Need It)", "Thrift Store Coats" (live because they're more audible than in the studio version))
E3 ("Restless", "Big Goodbye")
D3 ("Pipeline")
C♯3 ("The Future Is Here")