For many, the 1990s music scene in the Pacific Northwest is most heavily associated with grunge music. This is for good reason, as bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam seemed to rule the region. However, dig a little deeper and you will find a genre that, while more under the radar, was just as influential.
That genre is called “riot grrrl.” While some may scoff at mentions of obscure musical genres, riot grrrl deserves a listen. A gritty, pointed subgenre of punk, riot grrrl stands out for its feminist and left-leaning politics. Natives of Olympia, Washington, and arguably the queens of riot grrrl, all-female trio Sleater-Kinney released a handful of genre-defining albums through the 90s and early 2000s.
Their latest album, No Cities to Love, continues that trend. Released more than 20 years after the band formed and 10 years since its last album, No Cities to Love doesn’t feel like a desperate attempt to harken back the glory days nor does it feel too far removed from the rest of the band’s work, finding a comfortable place in the band’s impressive discography. The trio has crafted a powerful album that cements their place as one of the most capable rock bands of the last 20 years.
The album wastes no time in getting to what Sleater-Kinney is all about. “Price Tag,” the first track, features rollicking punk rock instrumentation and a biting political message. The chorus, “We never really checked, we never checked the price tag / When the cost comes in, it’s going to be high / We love our bargains, we love our prices so low,” makes no attempt to shroud the lyrical target of the exploitation of cheap labor and the negative externalities that come along with it. Any concerns that the band lost vitality or bite are quickly assuaged.
Not at all limited to the first track, this same sense of focused aggression runs through the entirety of the album.
“We sound possessed on these songs,” guitarist and vocalist Carrie Brownstein said in a statement about the album, “willing it all — the entire weight of the band and what it means to us — back into existence.”
Since the beast that is Sleater-Kinney had been slumbering for 10 years, it can be considered no small task to rouse it back into existence. Tracks such as “Fangless,” “A New Wave” and “Gimme Love” show that Sleater-Kinney was able to channel all of its built-up energy and aggression to produce a scorching, relevant album.
The band is not without its own brand of worry and self-awareness. On “Hey Darling,” vocalist Corin Tucker muses, “It seems to me the only thing that comes from fame’s mediocrity.”
The final track, “Fade,” is the closest the album gets to a soft song. With an anthemic opening riff, this track shows the band at its most sentimental, perhaps even considering the mortality of the band itself. With lyrics about the “last light dimming” and the “spotlight starting to fade,” it’s hard not to speculate whether this may be the swan song (a phrase that actually appears in the lyrics) for a great band.
And if it is, rock and punk rock will suffer for it. In a genre which seems to be without a clear direction and is considered by some to be dead or dying, Sleater-Kinney has made an album that, in a sense, shows the way for the genre. With this burning, emotive and energetic release, Sleater-Kinney has effectively set the bar for what rock music should be in 2015. However ironic it is that a 20-year-old band is the one to do this, it remains the truth.
Melodious in a coarse way, No Cities to Love is a joy to listen to. With the sole inclusion of fast, loud and up-tempo songs, the album can be repetitive in its own way. But however monotonous it may be, count on the constant melody to be well worth it.
4.1 out of 5
