No Cities to Love
The peerless indie trio’s first LP in a decade is 33 minutes of pure, lean, honest-to-goodness rock. Corin Tucker is in full command of her howitzer of a voice on standouts like “Surface Envy.” Carrie Brownstein’s haughty punk sneer leads the glorious “A New Wave.” Janet Weiss’ masterful drumming navigates the songwriting’s hairpin tonal shifts, from the glittering “Hey Darling” to the turbulent album closer, “Fade.\" *No Cities to Love* is an electrifying step forward for one of the great American rock bands.
“We sound possessed on these songs,” says guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein about Sleater-Kinney’s eighth studio album, No Cities to Love. “Willing it all–the entire weight of the band and what it means to us–back into existence.” The new record is the first in 10 years from the acclaimed trio–Brownstein, vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker, and drummer Janet Weiss–who came crashing out of the ’90s Pacific Northwest riot grrrl scene, setting a new bar for punk’s political insight and emotional impact. Formed in Olympia, WA in 1994, Sleater-Kinney were hailed as “America’s best rock band” by Greil Marcus in Time Magazine, and put out seven searing albums in 10 years before going on indefinite hiatus in 2006. But the new album isn’t about reminiscing, it’s about reinvention–the ignition of an unparalleled chemistry to create new sounds and tell new stories. “I always considered Corin and Carrie to be musical soulmates in the tradition of the greats,” says Weiss, whose drums fuel the fire of Tucker and Brownstein’s vocal and guitar interplay. “Something about taking a break brought them closer, desperate to reach together again for their true expression.” The result is a record that grapples with love, power and redemption without restraint. “The three of us want the same thing,” says Weiss. “We want the songs to be daunting.” Produced by long-time Sleater-Kinney collaborator John Goodmanson, who helmed many of the band’s earlier albums including 1997 breakout set Dig Me Out, No Cities to Love is indeed formidable from the first beat. Lead track “Price Tag” is a pounding anthem about greed and the human cost of capitalism, establishing both the album’s melodic drive and its themes of power and powerlessness–giving voice, as Tucker says, to those who “struggle to be heard against the dominant culture or status quo.” “Bury Our Friends” has Tucker and Brownstein joining vocal forces, locking arms to defeat a pressing fear of insignificance. It’s also emblematic of the band’s give and take, and commitment to working and reworking each song until it’s as strong as it can be. “‘Bury Our Friends’ was written in the 11th hour,” says Tucker. “Carrie had her great chime-y guitar riff, but we had gone around in circles with how to make that part into a cohesive song. I think Carrie finally cracked the chorus idea and yelled, ‘Sing with me!’” “A New Wave” similarly went through many iterations during the writing process, with five or six potential choruses, before crystallizing. It enters with an insistent guitar riff, and a battle between acceptance and defiance–“Every day I throw a little party,” howls Brownstein, “but a fit would be more fitting.” The album’s meditative title track was inspired by the trend of atomic tourism and its function as a metaphor for someone enthralled and impressed by power. “That form of power, that presence, is not only destructive it’s also hollowed-out, past its prime,” says Brownstein. “The character in that song has made a ritual out of seeking structures and people in which to find strength, yet they keep coming up empty.” Sleater-Kinney’s decade apart made room for family and other fruitful collaborations, as well as an understanding of what the band’s singular chemistry demands. “Creativity is about where you want your blood to flow, because in order to do something meaningful and powerful there has to be life inside of it,” says Brownstein. “Sleater-Kinney isn’t something you can do half-assed or half-heartedly. We have to really want it. This band requires a certain desperation, a direness. We have to be willing to push because the entity that is this band will push right back.” “The core of this record is our relationship to each other, to the music, and how all of us still felt strongly enough about those to sweat it out in the basement and to try and reinvent our band,” adds Tucker. With No Cities to Love, “we went for the jugular.” –Evie Nagy
The mighty Sleater-Kinney return a decade after their last album, 2005's The Woods, and they haven't lost a step. No Cities to Love is the band's most front-to-back accessible album, amping their omnipresent love of new wave pop with aerodynamic choruses.
Sleater-Kinney’s breakup in 2006 seemed like a logical step for the group, who had been together since 1994. The band’s members were, naturally, interested in pursuing their own routes in life after 12 years, a long time to do anything consistently. Janet Weiss worked with her group, Quasi, and played drums for…
The iconic Olympia trio return on blistering form with their first full-length in a decade.
Long-anticipated return albums are rarely as satisfying as My Bloody Valentine's m b v or 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but if anything is a good bet to pick up right where a long-dormant band has left off, it is a new record from Sleater-Kinney.
Recorded in secret in early 2014, seven years after they began their "extended hiatus", No Cities To Love is as daring and playful as its head-spinning provenance, and offers sweet relief to the fingers-crossed hardcore.
As if Sleater-Kinney was going to return from an eight-year hiatus and deliver anything less than a thoroughly raging collection of post-pun...
In the chorus of "A New Wave," halfway through Sleater-Kinney's new comeback album, No Cities to Love, Carrie Brownstein sings "No one here is taking notice/No outline will ever hold us/It's not a new wave, it's just you and me."
Album review: Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love. Suspend the betting: this is the rock album of 2015...
Sleater-Kinney return after a decade away and – pleasingly – pick up where they left off, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
The album is all about trying—striving to best a catalogue without peer, and sounding, minute-to-minute, like its makers might’ve done it.
Review of the new full length album from Sleater-Kinney 'No Cities To Love' the album comes out 1/19 on Sub Pop, the lead single is "Bury your friends'
The seminal 90s and noughties feminists haven’t lost any of their fire after an eight-year hiatus, writes <strong>Jenny Stevens</strong>
A decade after their last album, Sleater-Kinney are still the best band in the world. Album review by Lisa-Marie Ferla