In 2010, Carrie Brownstein announced that riot grrrl/punk band Sleater-Kinney would put out a new album some time in the next five years. The musician/writer/actress was true to her word: almost exactly five years later, Sleater-Kinney has ended its nine-year hiatus and come roaring back into the spotlight.
“No Cities to Love” begins with a fuzzed-up riff that bursts into a wash of power chords, followed by the group’s signature howling, powerful vocals. Album-opener “Price Tag,” along with nearly every other song on the album, is quintessentially Sleater-Kinney. The song is heavy, marching along to Janet Weiss’s rock-solid drumming. But around the 2:45 mark, after a quieter instrumental passage, all hell breaks loose as both vocalists unleash a wall of sound.
Though Sleater-Kinney has been around for nearly 20 years, and spends significant time apart, they sound as punchy and in sync with each other as ever in their latest album. The songs are infectious, matching tremendous riffs and catchy melodies with the band’s signature hard-edged sound. The result is incredibly listenable without sounding watered-down or stale.
“Surface Envy,” the album’s third track, exemplifies the group’s songwriting caliber. The guitars pull back on the verse, baring Brownstein’s voice over scratchy feedback, only to explode into a massive, triumphant chorus of “We win/ We lose/ Only together till we break the rules.” A fitting anthem for the band’s return, the song also features an extended guitar workout before a final chorus that somehow pushes the energy to yet another level. This is music to jump around to, music that, more or less, demands a mosh pit.
In terms of production and overall sound, the album is remarkably in line with Sleater-Kinney’s earlier catalogue. Though perhaps a bit less lo-fi than their first couple releases, “No Cities to Love” preserves the thick, distorted guitars and the live, slightly cacophonous sound longtime fans know and love.
“No Cities to Love” is a perfect end to Sleater-Kinney’s hiatus. It is the synthesis of years of writing and performing together — a stylistic pinnacle.
If the record has one noticeable issue, it might be a lack of variety. Fortunately, the songs are all so well written and so bursting with energy that this does not really matter. The album is also fairly brief, at about 32 minutes. The bottom line: Sleater-Kinney is very, very good at what they do.
“Exhume our idols and bury our friends/ we’re wild and weary but we won’t give in,” the band shouts in “Bury Our Friends.” That’s really the spirit of this album. Time may have passed, the music scene may have changed, but Sleater-Kinney’s wild spirit and ferocious playing are as strong as ever.
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