It’s no secret that the rock world has long been dominated by men. But the three-piece riot grrrl group Sleater-Kinney has reascended to the throne of rock royalty and sounds as fresh as ever.
At the height of its career, the band dispersed for nearly ten years for unknown reasons. The red velvet curtain on the cover of 2005’s The Woods was drawn in what was believed to be Sleater-Kinney’s final bow. Now, the curtain signifies the end of an act rather than the end of an era.
Sleater-Kinney left off in peak form. The last album found singer-guitarist Corin Tucker transforming her blood curdling banshee howl into a forcefield of sheer power on “The Fox.” Carrie Brownstein’s guitar playing reached Pete Townshend-levels of intensity (high kicks and windmills included), while Janet Weiss’s drumming continued to constantly amaze.
Brownstein spent much of her break alongside Fred Armisen in a tromp through the oddities of Portlandia. Tucker formed the Corin Tucker band in 2010. Drummer Janet Weiss recorded and toured with Quasi and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. In 2011, Brownstein and Weiss reunited for the self-titled album, Wild Flag. The band was short-lived, but paved the way for a Sleater-Kinney reunion.
No Cities to Love is a 32 minute, 10 song outing which visits portions of rock’s sonic spectrum with the power of The Who, the riffs of Led Zeppelin, the sound of what The Strokes probably wish they sounded like and unapologetic lyrics delivered by a more mature sounding Tucker.
While seemingly simple, so much of Sleater-Kinney’s music fits together like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The interlocking guitars are tuned in drop C sharp to substitute for the lack of a bass guitarist. The thunderous drums fill any blank spaces and also bolster the heaviest moments, while Brownstein and Tucker’s vocals provide the canvas for their either politically charged or just plain rock ‘n’ roll fun songs.
Clearly, Brownstein’s time in Portland has taught her a thing or two about hipsterisms. The band attempts to “invent (its) own kind of obscurity” on “A New Wave” by dying to prove they lived the lives they did. The brief elegy of “Eyes are the only witness / die to prove we ever lived this” relates to the succeeding song “No Anthems” through the idea of not having a connection to the past and that “There are no anthems and all I can hear are the echoes and the ring.”
On “No Anthems,” Tucker reduces the vibrato and reels off the lyrics with a whispered bravado that builds as the song progresses. “Hey Darling” hits with an addictive chorus and guitar line that can be looped for hours on end.
It didn’t take long for an album of the year frontrunner to emerge. The bar has been set high for 2015.
Follow Craig Wright on Twitter @wgwcraig