Sleater Kinney don’t make bad records. They just make records of varying levels of brilliance. Nimble post grunge post punk delivered in up beat and articulate three minute bursts. Sleater Kinney are the legacy that bands like Sonic Youth and The Pixies bequeath to the rest of the world. This is how things could have been if the Record Companies hadn’t won the pop wars.
A New Wave is both a throwaway little ditty and an anthem for the alternative nation in the modern age.
‘No one here is taking notice, No outline will ever hold us, It’s not a new wave, it’s just you and me’
The scene’s are over. There is no this or that anymore just good music and the stuff ‘THEY’ want you to listen to.
‘Eyes are the only witness, die to prove we ever lived this, invent our own kind of obscurity’
Since nobody is selling millions of records anymore and yet you don’t need approval from ‘The Man’ to get an audience. The game is wide open. Sleater Kinney are both alternative music luminaries and doomed to never really be a house hold name. The game has changed. The wind may fill their sails if not in their sales.
And yet, I’m not sure Sleater Kinney need global mega stardom to win the game. They’ve been making respected and adored indie records for over 20 years (seriously All Hands On The Bad One, One More Hour, One Beat, Write Me Back Fucker or Jumpers could just as easily been written about here). Their line up and output remains pretty damned solid despite a hiatus from 2006 to 2014. Besides, how many rock bands can say they have got a video where they get to appear in Bob’s Burgers?
So who is winning the rock race really? Yep, you know it’s them.
Steve For The Deaf 