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Sleater-Kinney Is Back

This program was originally broadcast on February 17, 2015.

Feminist punk-rockers, the band Sleater-Kinney, is with us. Reunited. Hotter than ever.

The punk rock band Sleater-Kinney (from L: Janet Weiss, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker) (Courtesy the Band)
The punk rock band Sleater-Kinney (from L: Janet Weiss, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker) (Courtesy the Band)

In the 1990s, they were the punk rock heroes of music critics and fans all over.  Sleater-Kinney, out of Olympia, Washington.  The best rock band in America, said critic Greil Marcus.  The fusion, said Rolling Stone, of “radical feminism and challenging, fiery punk.”  But the band, the trio – Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss - went its separate ways.  To other bands, sounds, kids.  Brownstein to TV’s "Portlandia."  Now they’re back. This hour On Point:  we’re talking with the founders of Sleater-Kinney.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Corin Tucker, guitarist and vocalist in Sleater-Kinney. (@corintuckerband)

Carrie Brownstein, guitarist and vocalist in Sleater-Kinney. Co-creator and star of IFC’s “Portlandia” sketch-comedy show. (@carrie_rachel)

From Tom’s Reading List

New Yorker: Sister Saviors — "Sleater-Kinney was certainly not the first independent band to create such a devoted following, nor was it the first all-female band to make its mark in the boys’ club of indie rock. But it was solid proof that the idealistic indie-rock community could sustain itself while living out its own beliefs. Even if you had subscribed to all the earnest discussion about gender parity and musicians operating with complete financial and aesthetic independence which came with much of the talk around small-batch rock in the eighties, you were likely still aware of the cold possibility that the meatheads would win and nothing would change."

Rolling Stone: No Cities to Love — "Sleater-Kinney recorded No Cities last year on the sly, springing it on the world as a surprise. Once you get over your shock that this album exists, it comes on like one of their toughest ever – 10 songs in 33 minutes, not a dud in the bunch, all surging in uptempo stomp-down-the-door mode. There's more low-end thud to their sound than before. The whole album crackles with the palpable excitement of three rock lifers in a room, eager to see what happens when they plug in and let it rip."

New York Times: Sleater-Kinney’s Secret Basement Sessions — "What happens next could depend, paradoxically, on the band’s discomfort level. 'Discomfort has always served this band well, but it’s thorny,' Ms. Brownstein said. 'But then when you hear the music, all the parts that were difficult serve the songs. It always sounds like you’re fighting against something. But if we’re doing it right, we’re fighting together against the same thing.'"

Playlist

This program aired on November 27, 2015. The audio for this program is not available.

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