Sleater-Kinney Albums
Sleater Kinney are many things, but in all they are one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Forming in the mid 1990s around the Seattle area (hence where they got their name), the group started off as a great all woman punk attack rock but with songs to boost their reputation up. As they evolved from the just about perfect emotional rock of Dig me Out to the odd chords used in off kilter ways of Hot Rock to the politically charged One Note to the earth shattering The Woods, there were few who could match them in terms of Powerful statements and songs that actually mean something.
Corin Tucker sings and belts like there is no tomorrow, combining much of what has come before from Janis Joplin to Chrissie Hinde to Robert Plant to Ian McKaye. Her measurement of how to sing just the right amount of power, when to drawback and when to belt out so the whole world sings, has been massively influential and places her among the great singers of rock and soul music with Timy Buckley, Van Morrison, Elenor Friedburger, Aretha Franklin. Corrie Brownstein matches that with her excellent guitar playing, as good as the masters of classic and punk rock but with a style that really defines the band that is a mixture of noise rock and guitar soloing going back to Chuck Berry / Jimmy Page. I have always stated they were the Led Zeppelin of the 1990s, in every way they embody what is great about HARD rock music no matter the speed or style, but they also were very carefree hard to pin down and of their time.
Albums Chronologically:
1995 – 65% - Sleater Kinney
1996 – 83% - Call the Doctor
1997 – 96% - Dig Me Out
1999 – 94% - The Hot Rock
2000 – 66% - All Hands on the Bad One
2002 – 85% - One Beat
2005 – 95% - The Woods
2015 – 75% - No Cities to Love
2019 – 60% - The Center Won’t Hold
2021 – 50% - Path of Wellness
2024 – 84% - Little Rope
1996
Call the Doctor - 83%
Ah, this band is pretty unique. Three women that play two guitars and drums, no bass, but trust me it is hard to tell. The guitar interplay is good, especially with Tucker playing more chords and Brownstein moving around like a champion on the electric guitar neck. Tucker seems to be a songwriter of real power, showing off the melodic gems like the chorus to the energetic “Little Mouth” which is part of a group of songs it you almost want to hide form the deluge. "Wanna be Your Joey Ramone" is the kind of song that tries to be real and angry, but with out quoting the name of a famous punk rocker I’ve always wondered if it would be as famous- I don’t think the screaming and pattern is all that original or catchy. Better are when the group starts to slow down, show control over the fury: “Taking Me Home” is just as angry as “Ramone”, but you feel the lyrics and powerful music much more: lyric sample, “Not for sale/ not your girl/ not your wife.” “Anonymous” is another favorite, it just has always been so catchy to stick in my head for days. “Stay Where you are” has a nice back n forth between both singers, different in their own right, raw and adolescent, lyrics that are easy to write but that work in this context. “Good things” is a heart wrenching balld that shows them reaching to be a more mature band.
The songs in here are kind of hard to absorb, and they range from verse-chorus-verse punky numbers to depressing like weird drumming sounding numbers (the tribal “Hubcap is an odd choice for song #2). Drummer Laura McFarlene does a lot with interesting drum clicks and alternative ways to approach the instrument, it lets the dual attack shine some, a song like “Taste Test” is unique to this group- not as raw as the other fierce woman groups of the era there is a softness here. There are no epic song lengths here, at 12 songs its still only a 30 minute long album there is a lot of neat ideas for future projects. In addition to “Wanna be Jr”, there is a horrid closer in "Heart Attack" letting us know these ladies should not SCREAM like that, Uhhhh! It is truly kind of funny, actually, and it depends a lot on personal taste too. Where the first half of the album does shine a little brighter there is a lot to love on the second half as well- hidden gems like “My Stuff” with more great memorable guitar chops and off key insane singing. It is a blueprint for a very interesting future to see what sound they will embrace. A little that doesn’t work, but most of it shines bright.
1997
Dig Me Out - 96%
One of the most abrasive open wound confessionals in rock music history, Dig Me Out is the band’s all time masterpiece. One could point out the way the songs are structured in order to reach max capacity of effect, painting a horror-show of a relationship in “Dig Me Out” to the actual fight of “Drama You’ve Been Craving” to the regret of “Not What You Wanted”. One could also just admire the catchy riffs and melodies, no matter how shrill and out of control they are being uttered by Corin Tucker, introducing and perfecting her way of singing that is part emocore and part opera, just enough so even if it is slightly out of tune it reaches maximum effect on our ears.
What I admire most about the album are all of these things, but also that Sleater Kinney as a trio make some of the best songs of all time no matter what genre: “One More Hour” is all of the fleeting feelings we have had in relationships; “Turn It On” pairs these emotions to catchy guitar riffs; “Heart Factory” slows it down a little bit just to give Carrie Brownstein a chance to sing a bit- ditto for the 1960’s throwback of “Little Babies”. All of these songs are just about perfect and all feature a beautiful and focused punk rock energy that puts their contemporaries to shame. Only “Things you Say” feels a little unnecessary amongst all the classics.
“It’s Enough” is another blast of pure energy, an anthem among so many others, where “Dance Song ‘97” injects some irregular keyboards into the mix. Closing “Jenny” is mid tempo, but amongst all the other songs (save the rhythmless and lovely “Buy Her Candy”) it sounds like a funeral march, the ultimate ending in summing up the verse “Didn’t we almost have it?” chanted over and over again. In all, Dig Me Out ebbs and flows like a brilliant construct but also manages to stir the emotions, like the best of Fugazi or Raincoats and also strands as one of the better break up albums in music history.
Best Songs: One More Hour, Not What You Wanted, The Drama You’ve Been Craving, Buy Her Candy
1999
The Hot Rock - 94%
Best Songs:
2000
All Hands on the Bad One - 66%
Best Songs:
2002
One Beat - 89%
2005
The Woods - 95%
This is a completely unexpected, but welcome, turn for the band. Seven albums in, they have crafted an experimental album made of two things Sleater Kinney have never really done: odd songs structures and jam outs to make the songs longer than expected. With these changes, they have to rank among the best of all rock music- classic rock or whatever you all it. Most of the songs have this structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-COMPLETE CHANGE-back to the verse. "What's Mine is Yours" has a middle section of crazy non-rhythmic guitar, followed by a echoey singalong; "Jumpers" is a driving guitar solo for its change; "Rollercoaster" and "Steep Air" have better verses than complete changes, but oh what songs! "Entertain" is the most like their other work, with its (personal) protesting of modern music lyrics and it is probably the most ‘pop’ track on here, but still very very good. The lyrics on this record are as different as the music is for the band, trying to tell stories like in "The Fox", and a woman contemplating jumping off a bridge in "Jumpers". “Modern Girl” is the only bit of reprieve form the sonic assault, and a needed one.
Amazingly all of this works but musically this album is flawless if not lyrically. Hell, at least they try it, nothing wrong with that. The album ends with "Let's Call it Love", which is the best song on the album so far (following that weird structure) for about five minutes, then jams out for six more minutes and fades right into the last demented track, "Night Light", perhaps the best and most cathartic closing track the group has ever done. This album’s guitar sound has been prepared to classic rock, but it is yet another variation on a well oiled mechanical group sound that is a VERY different sound then anyone has heard before. The producer, Dave Fridmann, who makes over the band with Flaming Lips' big drum sound and Mercury Rev's psychedelia, makes this album sound very different than their past output for sure. But you know what, even if he wasn't here, this would still be Sleater Kinney's most experimental record, with the exception of Hot Rock. Like The Hot Rock and Dig Me Out, this ranks among rock's masterpieces. What a band.
Best Songs: Rollercoaster, Night Light, Let’s Call it Love, What’s Mine is Your’s
2015
No Cities to Love - 74%
2019
Center Won’t Hold – 63%
2024
Little Rope - 84%
Sleater Kinney have unexpectedly reformed and added to their legacy, now having up to 10 albums to their name. Since their reformation they really have squandered a bit trying to find a direction, odd for a group that had a nearly perfect ten year initial run. Since the reformation in 2010s, the band has lost a core member in Drummer Janet Weiss over general credit or disagreement in song credits, and even with only two members left (tucker and Brownstein) the band still feels more divided than usual. On albums like The Hot Rocks or The Woods, the songwriters/singers were perfectly in synch and sound did not really change THAT much in ton form song to song. It was punk rock, hard rock, classic rock, mixed all together and amazing. However, its ok that the two voices left in Sleater Kinney are now their own distinct thing. Tucker can write a ballad like “Say it Like You Mean It” and as different as it is from a tight rock song form Brownstein in “Don’t Feel Right” the production melds it together (John Congleton this time) and the attitude seems close enough in spirit that the band which really has felt scattered and different” since 2015’s Fade now seems of a whole. This unity makes this album work. Sleater Kinney as they age and evolve are not as angry in the same way as they were when they were younger, and that’s for the best. Youthful rebellion and rage is supposed to grow wiser with time, and the times have greatly changed.
What doesn’t change is the bands ability to meld the feelings of the modern times in articulate and amazing songs: “Small Finds” is as dangerous sounding as anything in their past and pushes the boundaries of rock n roll in the right way; “Hell” is a perfect way to lure the listener in to the record, slowly but seductively; “Needlessly Wild” keeps the hardcore feeling of the Ramones but comes off unique to SK; “Untidy Creature” saves the best for last like so many of their records do, and epic chorus and plenty of space to breathe, like the return of Led Zepplin but even better with female empowerment behind the hard rock façade. There are some songs that work best in moments of course, the smaller charms of the placid “Dress Yourself” or the slightly experimental “Six Mistakes” with some angular guitars and charming drum work by Angie Boylan. Only a couple of songs don’t work for me, as “Hunt You Down” may Try a Bit too Hard and “Crusader” recalls the last album with a disco friendly sound that NEVER has worked for me. Still, at its best this is the most mature statement from the band since their reformation, happy to hear it.
Best Songs: Untidy Creature, Say It Like You Mean It, Don’t Feel Right, Small Finds