Sleater-Kinney breaks up

I would definitely want to hear a Carrie solo album--I'm thinking she should do a sort of '70's folk-pop singer-songwriter thing, with Janet on the drums (and guitar solos).

They were awesome live.

that's a pretty ace career

I agree that the Woods must have been a really hard record to make. I think they seemed to be both frustrated and enervated about the political state of the U.S., nevermind Bush's winning the election. When I saw them live during The Woods tour, I personally felt a bit of this desperation in their playing and singing, and it made songs like "Steep Air" sound tragic and desolate.

I knew I shoulda seen them when they came to town. This happened to me with the Delgados, too!

Luckily I had the good fortune to at least see Mclusky before they split.

Adios, S-K! What a fucking great band.

(Exception: Radiohead, who I didn't feel like seeing last week and oddly don't regret skipping.)

I'll really miss these guys, though, esp. since they came closest to what Fugazi was up to while Fugazi was on their own indefinite hiatus. But with bigger hooks and delivered with smiles!

I wonder if maybe they were one of those bands that does very very well in an indie/dive bar/house show context, up to the point of very large bars, but starts to feel sort of disconnected when you get up to arena stages. I mean, they've been doing Pearl Jam tours for a few years now but I wonder if it started to feel weird. They certainly were pretty far apart on that Atlanta stage last summer - while I thought the energy level was higher than ever, I could imagine that it would be weird for them. And meanwhile I'm not really clear on what Sub Pop did for them; I wonder how much shooting those videos cost them, etc. And of course Corin's kid....etc., etc., etc....

I have to admit that I'm sort of disinterested in solo work from them for some reason - I've never checked out Quasi, Cadallaca was okay if you're into that kind of thing, the Spells disappointingly dull. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

But what a whole! Gear says it pretty well with just a straight list of albums. They could have retired at Dig Me Out and it would still be showing up on "best albums of the 90s/indie/post-riot-grrl/whatever" lists forever. The Woods is bloody great all the way through; One Beat and All Hands take more chances and explorations than they get credit for (it's interesting how everyone forgot the production flourishes on One Beat when the line on The Woods became "they've finally ditched that lame, shitty sound they've been using for the last four albums!!!!")... and The Hot Rock is simultaneously the one I call my favorite and the one I put on the least, maybe because I burned out on its intricate hookiness without really realizing it.

With the exception of the debut they never put out an album without at least one stone cold classic on it. They worked hard, they riffed, they kicked up a storm, and they could conjure catchiness out of a few spare notes and some raw guts. There were always some really "ehh" lyrics somewhere on the record but then they would drop a line that totally, totally nails it and leaves you wide-eyed and inspired. They were always pushing themselves, and there are few bands I know of, from any age or scene, more fearless in tackling difficult emotions, or more equipped in talent and technique to convey those emotions and that difficulty. One of two, maybe three bands of their generation by whom I own more than one album, of whom I consider myself an actual fan, who really meant something to me. RIP.

I'm pissed I never saw them live, which is the same way I feel about Fugazi. I'm moving the general NW area pretty soon, and I hope that they do some sort of final hometown blowout in Portland or Olympia because I'll definitely go.

I missed them when they swung by in May. Surely there must be some way to make enough noise to get an extended farewell tour going??

"A Real Man" = classic. Better recognize!

Sterling's OTM. All Hands On The Bad One was the last S-K album I seriously listened to, and I can't remember a single song title from it, let alone hum a few bars... I find late period S-K full of sound and fury yet signifying naught, but the one-two of Dig Me Out / The Hot Rock is enough to put them in the record books.

One of their last shows is at The 9:30 Club, I imagine that show will be intense. They should've booked 3 nights at CBGBs in NYC.

oh yeah and of course they shouldn't have broken up after THR!! sheesh.

I would pay $70 to see their last show at a festival. I'm paying $130x2 just to see Gnarls Barkley at a festival which is crazier I'm sure.

Break up at "Dig Me Out" so they can be relegated to a riot-grrl footnote? No thanks.

I sorta agree w/ Alfred. The Hot Rock is sleek but there's some undercurrent of dread throughout - listening to it is like knowing your partner's keeping a secret from you. That tension is what makes the album their most interesting.

Critcally it was well-received, but my perception is that the general audience's reaction was "meh".

Break up at "Dig Me Out" so they can be relegated to a riot-grrl footnote? No thanks.

Well, that's one way of looking about it.

Break up at "Dig Me Out" so they can be relegated to a riot-grrl footnote? No thanks.

Well, that's one way of looking about it.

To expand on this point... A band which soldiers on past its expiration date increases the chances it will be remembered; growing audience base, more press, bigger catalog. On the other hand, by increasing the suck-to-sweet ratio of their catalog a band can make it more difficult for future generations to find a proper entry point for appreciation. Frankly, I don't think their post-Hot Rock material will age well (tho I'm probably a minority opinion on that one).

I am puzzled by the love for One Beat here. It's the only record of theirs I find too boring to listen to, although I like "Oxygen" and "Light Rail Coyote" well enough. And to those who say they can't remember a single song on All Hands, I say: You're no rock-and-roll fun.

Most days my favorite is Dig Me Out, but sometimes it's Hot Rock, or even The Woods or Doctor ("I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" still probably being their single best song). And they have always, always brought it live. A band I love.

Unless of course Alfred means they should've knocked off after The Hot Rock for themselves, which is an entirely different matter.

The only album I never got into was All Hands On The Bad One. I still own it, just don't think I've ever listened to it more than once or twice. Everything else they did was ace.

"The Hot Rock" is the S-K album I've listened to/liked the *least*.

S-K are the first band I've felt a surge of defensiveness over following a breakup; probably because they're the only band I love to have broken up with detractors aplenty. Nobody picked on Mclusky.

IMO "The Woods" is their best - refreshing in its vitality, cohesiveness and sheer heft. It's sad that they didn't seem to find any sort of catharsis in recording it, cause it sure sounds like a 48-minute revelation on record.

Any drumming deficiencies can be overlooked when there are songs like Good Things and Joey Ramone.

"Little Mouth"
"Little Babies"
"Stay Where You Are"
"Wilderness"
"Turn it On"
"Dig Me Out"
"The Size of our Love"
"Get Up"
"Step Aside"
"Oh!"

(xpost: thanks, Michaelangelo!)

No way. Laura MacFarlane is a great, expressive drummer; perfect for their early sound and totally underrated in her contribution. I don't think her style would have suited the bigger, more rock approach of Dig Me Out and afterward. Indeed, listening to the ninetynine CDs, you hear Laura going in a more experimental direction at the same time S-K become more of a rock band.

Count me among those who heard diminishing returns in the last few S-K albums and isn't broken up over their hiatus. I do think it's wise for them to leave their options open. If anyone can pull of a Mission of Burma-esque seamless comeback, it's them.

yeah, that's CLEARLY what i was saying, good job.

it's a tough one but here's my pox:

get up!
modern girl
youth decay
light rail coyote
ballad of a ladyman
oh!
quarter to three
call the doctor
step aside
burn, don't freeze

The Pretenders spring to mind. Though TBF one member was fired, another died, and then the fired member died.

― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Thursday, November 21, 2019 8:57 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Martin Chambers was also fired (in 1986) and rehired (around 1994).

haha when I saw SK a couple years ago I had the same experience with “Modern Girl” - the whole crowd sang along and I was like “...I don’t even know this one?”

Carrie used it to title her memoir which I imagine has lent it even greater significance to fans.

the woods was a popular album

It's the only S-K album I know well! It's really good. I gather the earlier albums have their proponents too

The tour for The Woods was phenomenal.

One of the main reason I felt content when they broke up. I think I saw three of those shows, the last from the side of the stage.

Slayer is a good example!

Jimmy Chamberlin

My thread from whenever:

Let's List Bands That Got Worse with the Departure of a Drummer