(Sub Pop)
'Another year, another slew of
reunions' the cynic in me wants to think. Undoubtedly there will be
plenty more reunions on the horizon but outside those groups that
have used it to cash in on a greatest hits tour we've also gotten
some great albums in the last few years. Afghan Whigs, Swans, Sebadoh
are amongst the acts that have proven in recent years that comebacks
shouldn't always be met with negativity. For as many acts that want
to make some easy money there are just as many with something left to
say.
The much-loved indie punk group
Sleater-Kinney are the latest group to reform and have brought No
Cities To Love, they're first album in a decade, with them.
Formed in Olympia, WA in 1994, the group
where amongst the most successful and longest lasting acts to have
come from the Riot Grrl scene, taking influence from the indie and
punk music from the Pacific Northwest as well as the likes of
Pavement and Sonic Youth. The bands sound is
also shaped by the interplay between Corin Tucker and Carrie
Brownstein, both playing guitars and taking on vocals, mixing
empowered vitriol with punk energy they created music that had a
vital message whilst punk rock as a whole was loosing it's bite.
Since 2005's The
Woods and the groups long-term
hiatus in 2006 the band went of in different directions. Tucker has
released two albums with the Corin Tucker Band whilst Brownstein
teamed up with Fred Armisen to create the hipster skewering comedy
series Portlandia.
Drummer Janet Weiss continued to work with her husband as Quasi and
joined Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks as well as working with
Brownstein as part of the short-lived group Wild Flag.
No Cities To Love begins
with a playful riff and rolling drums but that first track, Price
Tag, really hits it's stride with a big defiant chorus that puts
stadium rock bands to shame without losing it's edge. Sleater-Kinney
shine in these big moments and the album is full of them, mixing the
straightforward hooks of The Clash and the jittery unpredictability
of Devo. Fangless jerks about with these harsh, lurching post-punk
riffs as the vocals delivered with a wild, shouted desperation.
The title track from No Cities to
Love is one of the strongest here. An almost pop-punk track
showing one of the groups big strengths of putting big, irresistible
sing-along hooks amongst scrappy guitar melodies. The huge jagged
slabs of dissonant chords that begin No Anthems are pure 90's era
Sonic Youth, angry and weird. The tumbling melodies give way to the
short and sharp melodic punk centre of the track. Fade channels
Fugazi-style emo, which leads the the albums last big chorus, and is
a neat fit for Tucker and Brownstein's
heart-on-sleeve style of singing.
It's not the kind of punk record that
snarls and spits in your face, content to pull you in with passion
and melody. In fact the way Sleater-Kinney sits in this unique spot
between grunge, indie rock and punk saw them picking and choosing
their own space somewhere between. No Cities To Love is lean,
it's momentum barely lets up, and makes for a good starting point for
anyone unfamiliar with Sleater-Kinney as well as a welcome return for
long-time fans. It's an album that easy to enjoy just on the basis of
it's limitless energy and charm, but there is definitely more to find
beneath the surface of it's immediate pleasures. Like quite a few
reunion albums it seems to pick up where the band left us and in
doing so shows reminds us what was so good about them in the first
place.
No comments:
Post a Comment