After 25 years and nine albums, Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein said recently that they’re in their mid-period. Bold words for a veteran band, but back up by that ninth album The Center Won’t Hold. The LP was produced by long-time friend and fan Annie Clark aka St Vincent, and shares some of Clark’s notions of avant-garde guitar excursions and left-field pop detours.
It’s a stretch away from their noise and punk roots, but the nods to disco and electro-pop still retain a spikiness and a DIY edge.
The new sonics weren’t for long-time drummer Janet Weiss, who left last summer after recording the album, saying: “The band is headed in a new direction and it is time for me to move on.”
But fans aren’t jumping ship, and live reviews are focused on a reinvigorated Brownstein and Corin Tucker, with their new band members recruited for the next chapter.
- Sleater-Kinney play Vicar Street in Dublin this Sunday (March 1)
Moo Kid 