Sleater-Kinney is a rock band. Sleater-Kinney is three women: Corin Tucker, Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein. Sleater-Kinney do not have a bass player. Sleater-Kinney is a great rock band.
OK, I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t like girl bands, the Lilith Fair was the worst idea ever, blah-blah-blah, something about lesbians making out.”
Don’t get your panties in a wad mister. You’ve probably just never heard Sleater-Kinney.
Given the chance, these ladies would bum rush the Indigo Girls, get some choice shots in, gank their wallets and leave their dirty hippie bodies in a creek bed, all the while looking cute as hell.
That’s just the kind of people the ladies of S-K are.
Hailing from the grey-skied Portland/Olympia area, Sleater-Kinney has been honing their aggressive sound since 1995.
On their newest album, One Beat, S-K shows a maturity that is very exciting. The two-guitar, drums, gang vocal approach that has made S-K such a force to be reckoned with has been augmented on One Beat with occasional keyboards, strings and horns.
This minimal instrumentation allows for the vocal interplay between of these three that is such a huge part of this band. Corin Tucker lets it all hang out, wailing like a punk rock Cher (yes, I said Cher).
Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein add some quite tasty call-and-response vocal shoutouts.
However, these two probably keep their vocal duties to a minimum because they’re just way too busy rocking out on their instruments.
Forget this “hey you’re pretty good . for a girl” thing, these three are great musicians, singers and songwriters.
Keep your fingers crossed, as it is rumored that S-K will be coming to the newly reopened Orange Peel in Asheville sometime shortly after the New Year.
In the meantime, go check out One Beat or any one of their several albums or singles (All Hands on the Bad One is a personal favorite). You can find out more at their label’s web site killrockstars.com.

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