Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold - August 16th

I was curious, so I checked out Corin's solo page on Spotify, and--while I know those two albums were a long time ago and even then they weren't super well-promoted or toured behind--I was shocked that her current monthly listeners count is 404. As in 4 over 400.

For comparison, Wild Flag have 5,783.

Heavens to Betsy has 18,392 monthly listeners though.

New Interview: https://www.vulture.com/article/interview-sleater-kinney-carrie-brownstein-corin-tucker-path-of-wellness.html

Vulture: In 2019, Janet Weiss suggested that she had been shut out of decision-making processes in the band and that was why she left. I’m curious how you feel about that characterization.

CB: I mean, anyone who thinks there aren’t multiple perspectives and sides to this is either being willfully ignorant or perhaps lacks their own real-life experience. To be honest, I’m not interested in continuing to talk about something that really seems to revel in female cattiness and conjecture and confirmation bias.

Carrie is also going to direct a Heart biopic.

sounds like no love lost between them and Janet, that's unfortunate

Heavens to Betsy has 18,392 monthly listeners though.

That's impressive! I do wonder how much of that comes from algorithms bumping tracks as 'related' programming after S-K/Bikini Kill/etc. albums.

FWIW, Filthy Friends currently have 804 monthly listeners. One one hand I get it because I only know about their second album because I get emails from Kill Rock Stars, but otoh I thought REM stans would be more supportive.

No Spotify in senior living facilities.

It's The End of The World As We Know It (And Get Off My Lawn!)

New Corin Song & Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkPJtv32WtA

very nice

yeah, love that

Ooh this is good

Sounds kinda like ... Pavement?

^^I can say for a fact that whenever I listen to either new single on Spotify, the subsequent 'song radio' always plays Pavement and Wire and Hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O11TZvnHtmg

another good one, it already seems like i'll enjoy this album a lot more than the last two

Somebody's playing one of those St. Vincent guitars!

Only two listens in on this one, but thinking this is the least of the tracks so far. OTOH, "Worry With You" needed a few spins past that to get fully hooked in me, and "High In The Grass" was Love at first listen, so the bar is high.

I think S-K are my #1 band for when I love them I LOVE them, but when I can't stand a track I really can't listen to it. This is one of the unlistenable ones for me. I still love them as a band but I don't think there's a single LP I love all the way through

Album launch special on Amazon's Twitch is glitch af, channel just went offline for the second time. #ThanksBezos

Was listening to Dig Me Out for the first time in years and boy it was nice when Carrie's vocals weren't intolerably mannered

Only the last one is meh

ooh, totally forgot I can go buy this tomorrow

album is nice, kinda exactly what i'd want out of them branching out their sound & mellowing out a little at this point in their career. so much better than the last two albums

Definitely liking this on first listen, very different mood than the last two albums. This is probably their loosest, grooviest record? Feels more influenced by blues/psychedelic rock than punk. As jammy and noisy as The Woods was, those songs were pretty taut and clenched.

the one thing from their classic sound i do miss on this one is the overlapping vocal lines they used to do so well. otherwise it just feels like they're aging gracefully

after one drunken listen i feel like it's, you know, fine

also i hate it because it's nowhere near as good as 20+ years ago, and neither am i, and i don't want to begrudge their middle-aged art not living up to my middle-aged yet naive expectations of them, because they absolutely can do whatever they like, but also somehow i'd feel much better about it all if janet were involved

Tiny Desk Concert (Includes new arrangement of "One Beat")

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/01/1011298139/sleater-kinney-tiny-desk-home-concert

Really like that version of One Beat. There’s also some good live performances of the new songs on their official YouTube channel. Enjoying the new backing band.

oh no they're teasing something

— sleater kinney struggle tweets (@skfanstruggle) September 24, 2023

pic.twitter.com/oUl1YpmNUr

— sleater kinney struggle tweets (@skfanstruggle) September 26, 2023

The little audio clip on the FB teaser sounds BIG, Center Won't Hold-style w/skronk horns or something.

Also HBD CARRIE

On closer inspection (headphones on): Skronk Horns = Distorted Screaming/Wailing

Why did no-one tell me about this covers album from last year? Is it terrible?

Literally the only thing I ever saw/heard about it was the middling Pitchfork review. It sunk pretty fast, which tells you something, I guess. Never heard it myself.

It's not very good, although I remember liking the Margo Price, Linda-Lindas, and Isbell-Shires tracks. Also forgot that Low did "Dance Song '97". The Wilco is awful.

yeah really liked the margo price cover

Thank you for not telling me about that covers album, it's one of the worst things I've ever heard :(

(tbf a couple were ok but wow, I did not need to hear One More Hour covered by Wilco)

New album, Little Rope, out in January.

Not going to lie, part of me still held out hope that the announcement might feature the miracle return of Janet.

just realised I never listened to the last one, might not even have known it existed. tbf I didn't like the 2019 album much at all so maybe I did know about it and just ignored it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ7uo98b_Pk

Single "Hell" (video semi-NSFW)

^^It's a Corin song btw

Hmm. It's ... OK. Reminds me of some of the stompier stuff from The Woods. But yeah, this phase of the Corin-Carrie project just doesn't excite me much.

made it about halfway through that song; it's alright I guess, but the magic is just gone for me.

meh

every time they put out something new I hold out hope that I'll really love it but TBH I haven't loved an album since All Hands on the Bad One so I don't know why I think there's going to be a return to form.

No Cities to Love was fine, The Center Won't Hold outstanding as a palate cleanser: if they needed a sound for a post-Weiss project, THIS was it.

The last album was a non-entity.

Will probably be used as the end-credits song of the 3rd to last episode season 2 of the next hit drama. It will be good for that sort of thing. Oh man, that episode was nuts! Things are really ramping up. What a cliffhanger. Anyway. Oh is the next episode up? Oh good, yeah click next episode.

I heard "No Cities" once, don't remember a thing about it. I don't think I ever heard "The Center Won't Hold." Didn't even know "Path to Wellness" existed, tbh. In as much as I need Sleater-Kinney in my life these days, I certainly don't need these albums. More bands should break up.

That said, Wild Flag should get back together.

I like No Cities and The Center, both have some songs I'd rescue for a S-K playlist. But it's all starting to feel like '00s U2 or something.

I have more thoughts, but right now after listening again on Spotify, the algorithm has thrown Cat Power's "He War" at me, and damned if that one isn't one of the best fake Sleater-Kinney songs EVAH.

Absolutely forgot the last album even happened, that feels a bit sad. This is alright. I always love to hear Corin's voice but I miss when they sounded nimble and off-kilter, hopping from foot to foot. Got genuine enthusiasm for some of the stompy, swaggery moments but it's not my favourite mode, especially paired with glossy production, so I haven't really loved anything since they got back together.

I see the temptation to pin any falling off on Janet leaving, Carrie getting more famous and taking more control etc, but this all probably set in with parts of One Beat, and the moments of brilliance on that album plus the sonic changes on the Woods made it harder to see coming. Just realised I'm essentially pining for an iteration of this band that hasn't existed for 20 years so feels churlish to complain - might still try to catch them in November when they're here.

Eh, those albums still exist, and just because the band pulled a Pixies doesn't negate them. In fact, the new records (in both cases) make those formative albums albums sound more alive than ever.

i think in the end I really only love call the doctor and dig me out, and that's enough. impeccable albums, both nearly perfect. hard for anyone to live up to those.

No Cities To Love: Coming back without missing a beat, exactly the album you'd have expected from them in 2015, breakup or no breakup (the two Corin solo lps are a effective bridge).

Center Won't Hold: The songwriting is very experimental, demands the production to create a through line, er holding things together from start to finish. A definitive example of a veteran act challenging themselves and succeeding. "Hurry On Home" is All-Time, Top 5 S-K.

Path of Wellness: This album wouldn't have existed but for the pandemic. Because of those circumstances, Corin & Carrie went the Steely Dan route, bringing in various ringers as conditions would allow. Ultimately not the best way to make this band's music. Starts strong, ends well, but gets lost and confused in the middle.

"Hell": As it initially unfolded, I wanted more of the fast chorus, which was delivered as it went along. Cautiously optimistic about the album. Who's drumming?