SuppliedSleater-Kinney
No Cities To Love
Sub Pop
sleater-kinney.com
Punk-rock queens Sleater-Kinney are stepping back into the spotlight with a refined sound on their newest album No Cities To Love. Coming out with their first studio release in 10 years, the Olympia natives have put a rock n’ roll spin on their classic brand of punk rock.
Fans who remember Sleater-Kinney as the badass trio who helped define the Riot Grrrl scene in the mid ‘90s will feel right at home with tracks like “Price Tag” and “Hey Darling.” Carrie Brownstein’s power chords and Janet Weiss’ messy-but-methodical drums provide the perfect backing to Corin Tucker’s politically charged vocals. Critiquing capitalism and the mediocrity of fame, Sleater-Kinney doesn’t pull any punches to get their message across.
Newer fans — or fans with contemporary tastes — will find love songs like “Bury Our Friends” and “Fade,” which use complex chord progressions and refined vocals to convey Sleater-Kinney’s politically charged message in a more modern way. Sleater-Kinney fine-tunes their understanding of what makes a hit song, creating catchy music without losing lyrical integrity. Maybe it’s the changing landscape of music that favours rock over punk, or maybe it’s the result of the band’s matured tastes that caused the transition. Either way, the new spin on classic material works out well for Sleater-Kinney.
Transitioning away from their keynote style of punk would be difficult for almost any band, but Sleater-Kinney takes the change in stride, refusing to make lyrical sacrifices and instead creating hits without losing any of their Riot Grrrl ferocity.
