Sleater-Kinney breaks up

A little over halfway - it's breezy but interesting. For some reason it now makes complete sense that she and sorta-creepy Fred Armisen are BFFs.

Finished. Somewhat annoyed that she doesn't say whether or not she took the dogs back.

?

(Book ends with a chapter on her foster animals, including a pair of bad dogs.)

ah

Caught them at their Cleveland show the other night, second time I've seen them this year. (Saw them in Pittsburgh back in March.) This set felt a lot looser, more relaxed, and included a lot of songs they didn't do at the previous show: "Call the Doctor," "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone," "#1 Must Have," "All Hands On The Bad One" etc. But the real treat was that they opened their encore with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V010tmcEoAA

saw them at Market Hotel last night, a loft space in Brooklyn that holds like 150-200 people. They were all so loose and playful and at ease, it was less "WE'RE S-K AND WE'RE HERE TO ROCK" and more "lol hey guys we're gonna play some songs for you tonight", like we'd stumbled into some friends-and-family rehearsal. I got really verklempt because I idolize them so much and they are so fucking important to me and I never ever could have imagined that I'd get to see them play what was essentially a basement punk show (albeit with fancy lights); the two times I've seen them prior they've been kinda flashy and performative and it felt like a Really Important Event that was very fun and playful but not what I'd call casual. Also they had silly t-shirts on ("WHORIN' FOR CORIN", "FUCK CARRIE KILL?", "FUCKING JANET WEISS") and Fred Armisen came on stage for the encore to play "Rock Lobster" and I almost cried when they played "Far Away".

Also Lee Ranaldo opened and just banged a guitar w/ a drum stick for 30 minutes and it was kind of embarrassing.

when we saw them a few months ago Kim Gordon opened for them and in full "i don't give a fuck" mode played i think one noise song for 45 min, i liked it lots.

my 2 fav Sleater-Kinney moments rn:

2. The bright energetic riffy guitar during third verse of "Oh!"
1. Carrie's overlapping vocals during the "How many times" part of "Ballad of a Ladyman"

this band is v great at effortlessly layering sounds!

Their Austin City Limits ep premieres tomorrow!

...and it's pretty good, albeit obviously truncated (only a half hour and seven songs plus a quick interview).

http://www.culturecreature.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/sleater-kinney-live-in-paris.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-ZW-grXUAIb_ix.jpg

fuck

dammit

never be the same band

ok i was willing to extend St. Vincent a lot of goodwill because I like her music but based on no actual evidence I am 100% blaming her for this. this fucking sucks.

Well that sucks.

I wasn't feeling good energy from the Fallon performance I recently watched; was kind of wondering if Janet was into it specifically. But to be clear I'm not saying I "sensed" anything either it was just a curiosity at the time. I am not a St. Vincent fan at all so I've been cautiously optimistic but a little worried how the album would turn out.

Yeah, their attempt at a new image has looked fairly dire.

damn. this is a bummer.

They should probably just have done this under a different band name or solo project? I don't think SK has a history of changing styles drastically, so it was bound to be rough.

Definitely an unfortunate album title now too.

Omigod don't make me cry when I'm on a bus, JW

i am excited for janet's newfound freedom! what will she do next?

kick ass in some fashion, I have no doubt

i am excited for janet's newfound freedom!

I am too! Absolutely one of my all-time favorite drummers.

But this seems oddly timed, to say the least. Tour's booked, album's coming out, tickets are selling...this seems like the worst possible time for her to drop this on her bandmates (unless it was all worked out ahead of time among themselves, like, "After Fallon, I'm out; that ok?")

The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals).

Blimey, Wikipedia fast off the blocks!

Idk, if you're not into the music or the presentation, leaving before the tour seems like a healthy thing to do for all concerned

ok i was willing to extend St. Vincent a lot of goodwill because I like her music but based on no actual evidence I am 100% blaming her for this.

lol

Lora MacFarlane...YOUR TIME IS NOW!

Seriously though, what a bummer. Tarfumes OTM, I do wonder how they'll carry on with the tour, release cycle etc.

I finally got to see them on the No Cities tour, and Janet live was a highlight.

i know she wasn't in the band for the first two records and i assume reports from this tour will be glowing, like "they managed to pull it off without janet!" and etc., but i do not see any point in seeing sleater-kinney live without janet weiss

yeah, i was planning to see them and probably still will but this definitely puts a damper on my enthusiasm.

They had such a unique dynamic, and any other drummer will throw it off, regardless of how well they know the material. Not that it'll result in sub-par shows necessarily, but it seems unlikely there'll be any "Let's Call It Love"-type excursions on this tour.

she might not have been there since day one, strictly speaking, but sleater-kinney without janet is not sleater-kinney imo

I don't know or care if she was "technically" skilled. She had presence, body, power. Above all, I could distinguish a Janet Weiss part from other people's.

Listening to the bass-heavy stuff from the new record, I was reminded of what Janet said in 2014 about S-K not having a bassist:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sleater-kinney-share-fiery-battle-cry-surface-envy-58584/

“I don’t really love low end. That big bass sound that hits you in your gut is unpleasant! Not having a bass allows for the drums to occupy an interesting space in the music, which I really love,”

I already have tickets (as part of a birthday weekend trip with friends, no less). It will be interesting?

Not sure if I'll be able to get excited about seeing them live now? Janet was key.

Philly show during No Cities tour felt really weak to me, but I blame the sound at the venue. So it's not fair of me but I needed this show to restore that spark and losing Janet is probably the worst thing that could have happened in that regard.

I had so many good experiences of seeing them live that I totally ignored the reunion and come back album. When I heard the new stuff and saw that TV performance it just seemed so desperate and lame, as if we needed more robotic sophistirock. I totally blame Annie Clark, but really the most responsibility lies with Corin and Carrie, who clearly decided to try and cash in. It's telling that Janets farewell specifies the change in direction.

One thing that stuck out to me in the Fallon performance is that it looked like Janet was playing to a click track (to trigger samples?), and she wasn't into it.

Cynically expecting lots of St. Vincent posturing and studio faithful renditions now. Yippee.

I like "Hurry on Home" *shrugs*

They should hire Kenny Jones.

Matt Sorum

jesus. janet was THE s/k drummer as far as I'm concerned. already have tickets but we'll see if I wind up going.

Really scared they'll hire GROHL.

Bill Berry's not doing much.

I had actually forgotten that they ever had another drummer!

phil collins is drumming again, just sayin'