Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney formed in 1994 when Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, coming out of Heavens to Betsy and Excuse 17, built a band around a dual-guitar attack that did away with bass entirely on the early records. Over seven albums between 1994 and 2005 they carried riot grrrl's politics into territory the movement's founders had rarely reached: critical acclaim from the rock press at large. Greil Marcus called them America's best rock band in 2001. The band broke up in 2006 after Brownstein suffered anxiety-induced shingles and a breakdown two days before a European tour. They reformed in 2014 and have released four albums since, the most enduring band to grow out of riot grrrl's Olympia roots.
At a glance
- Active
- 1994–2006, 2014–present
- From
- Olympia, Washington, USA
- Records in the issues
- 3 (1996–2000)
- Original labels
- Chainsaw Records and Kill Rock Stars
- Listening guide track
- “Dig Me Out”
Listen
In the Riot Grrrl listening guide: “Dig Me Out”
In the issues
- Riot GrrrlPrincipal · 1988-1996
Riot Grrrl is a music scene from Olympia, Washington & Washington, D.C., USA, 1988–1996. Its principal artists include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile and Sleater-Kinney. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 15 dated events.
Records
Call the Doctor
1996 · Go deeper in Riot GrrrlOriginal release: Chainsaw Records · CHSW 13 · CD · US 1996Sleater-Kinney's second album pushed riot grrrl's sound toward critical respectability without losing its political urgency or its experimental edge. Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein's dual-guitar interplay, one part jagged and stabbing, one part circling with sustained notes, built a nervous, angular sound that owed something to Wire and X.
Listen on SpotifyDig Me Out
1997 · Go deeper in Riot GrrrlOriginal release: Kill Rock Stars · KRS 279 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1997With Janet Weiss now on drums, Sleater-Kinney's third album locked in the dual-guitar interplay that became the band's signature and one of riot grrrl's clearest sonic evolutions. A 2022 tribute album featuring Big Joanie's cover of "Things You Say" showed the record still had pull on a new generation of feminist punk bands decades later.
Listen on SpotifyAll Hands on the Bad One
2000 · For the obsessed in Riot GrrrlOriginal release: Kill Rock Stars · KRS 360 · CD · US 2000This fifth album cemented Sleater-Kinney's status as, in Greil Marcus's words from 2001, America's best rock band, proof that riot grrrl's artistic force hadn't dulled a decade in. St. Vincent discovered the record as a teenager and later produced the band's 2019 comeback, The Center Won't Hold, a direct line from this album to a later generation of guitar bands.
Listen on Spotify
Family tree
Bands that shared members with Sleater-Kinney, and who.
- Excuse 171993–1995Carrie Brownstein
- Wild Flag2010–2013Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss
- Heavens to Betsy1991–1994Corin Tucker