No Cities to Love
(Sub Pop)
Four stars
In 2015, it seems any woman with a handful of downloaded Beyoncé tracks thinks they are a feminist, without any real knowledge of what being one actually entails. But back in the post-grunge mid-1990s, Sleater-Kinney were redefining the term in an indie-rock context, without parading around stage in undercracker-exposing outfits – paving the way for the success of the Gossip. Reuniting for their first album in 10 years, the trio from Olympia, Washington state, are arguably at their most accessible ever. Their taut, angular guitar lines still dominate – as does a right-on, riot-grrrl-informed ethos – but they've developed far beyond micro-genre pigeonholing. In many places the atmosphere is positively effervescent, such as the typically defiant chorus of Surface Envy ("We win/ We lose/ Only together do we break the rules"). The title track, meanwhile, creates an interesting debate over our affection for various conurbations – according to Sleater-Kinney, it's the weather and people that we adore, rather than the cities themselves. No Cities to Love is a record from three women in their 40s that is bursting with twice the energy of bands half their age.
