“WE were ambitious and came from a scene that has a complicated approach to ambition,” recalls Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney’s beginnings in Olympia, Washington’s underground circa 1994. Formed by guitarists Brownstein and Corin Tucker, the group recruited drummer Janet Weiss to make their breakthrough on 1997’s Dig Me Out – a relentless mix of angular post-punk, garage thrills and indie rock anthems. “The music in Sleater-Kinney has always been in conversation with itself and we have always reflected on our place in the world at any given moment,” says Brownstein. “That’s because we had to justify our existence from the beginning. We were trying to say as much as we could and disallow categorisation.” But rather than repeat themselves, Sleater-Kinney demonstrated a capacity for reinvention, continually expanding on their central vision.
Their latest, Slow Rope – the band’s fourth since a decade-long hiatus – sees them plunge back into a maelstrom of guitars, familiar territory since their self-titled debut if now not quite so raw. “Guitar for us is home,” says Brownstein. “It’s how Corin and I communicate with one another, a conversation we have been having since 1994. The ambition now is for relevance and longevity. I love hearing new artists, but I am also invested in stories that have many chapters. Part of the ambition is to value all the chapters and insert ourselves into the landscape, not as relics but as storytellers on the current state of things and of ourselves.”
SLEATER-KINNEY
CHAINSAW, 1995
Recorded in Australia at drummer Laura MacFarlane’s home, their debut was a raucous introduction to the young band’s sly humour and punky melodies.
Carrie and I were both in other bands; we would tour
