The Nashville Feed

Sleater-Kinney, the mind-blowing rock trio out of the Pacific Northwest, is no more. According to their website, they are taking “an indefinite hiatus.” That means that they’ve broken up. Perhaps they may bring it all back together in the future, but I’m not placing any bets on a return.

I shouldn’t be surprised by the band’s wish to retire. They are at an age where many American women turn their attentions to casseroles, gardening, and Disney movies. I was hoping that riot grrls would always be above seeking the ordinary life, but this hope faded when Corin Tucker popped out a preemie whom she named Marshall.

Tucker’s marriage and new motherhood finally put to rest those longstanding lesbian rumors. There are will always be idiots that equate feminism to muffdiving.

I never really cared who Tucker wanted to fuck, as long as Sleater-Kinney kept setting a standard for what rock was supposed to be. Her sexual orientation didn’t threaten this at all. However, her marriage and motherhood did concern me. I didn’t want to hear pretty little songs about the joys of breeding.

But the band had never let me down in the past. I took a chance and purchased Sleater-Kinney’s first post-reproductive work, One Beat ( iTunes | Amazon.com ), as soon as it was released. I had to get it from the Kill Rock Stars website, because I was living in Nashville at the time. Despite the mislabel of “Music City,” Nashville can be fairly limited in embracing sounds outside of the major country label foundation.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Sleater-Kinney’s best album to date. Tucker did throw in some stuff about her little bambino on One Beat, but none of it could be called pretty little songs about the joys of breeding.

Beyond births, this was also their first album since the September 11th attacks.

Fuck Bruce Springsteen and his mainstream emotionalizing. Fuck Toby Keith and his unintelligent, American ogre response. Fuck Steve Earle and his whiny sympathizing. These three chicks made the stand-out best album to address that day and its fallout. They demonstrated that rock can still ask questions and challenge dogmas without whimpering about the situation. Sleater-Kinney spoke for thousands, perhaps even millions of Americans; many of whom have still not heard the album.

Sleater-Kinney has always had something important to say. Perhaps this is why they have rejected major label offers in favor of little northwestern outfits. Mainstream corporations don’t want political perspectives threatening profits.

The group’s latest and final offering, The Woods ( iTunes | Amazon.com ), takes an almost annoyed look at the state of the country. No matter what little miracles may have occurred in their personal lives; Corin, Carrie, and Janet still point out the lies of the American dream. This is not something most people want to hear, but I absolutely love them for it.

The Woods may have been their most commercially successful album, but mainstream America was never ready for Sleater-Kinney. We live in a society that prefers catchy, over-produced songs from girls with tight little exposed tummies. Musicians, particularly female musicians, shouldn’t make us think. Those poor Dixie Chicks demonstrated how America reacts to women with an opinion and a career in popular music.

Sleater-Kinney did not put on a dance performance or wiggle around on the set of a video. This led to declarations by many moronic music reviewers that the group proved that “women can rock.” Go ahead and google “Sleater-Kinney” and “can rock” and count how many unoriginal writers are still dragging out this overused proclamation. Critics used the same exact phrase with L7, and Joan Jett, and Patti Smith and every other girl with a guitar and an attitude. Janis Joplin established that women can rock 40 years ago. We don’t need to re-establish it with each new chick.

Let’s also not over simplify and classify Sleater-Kinney as a girl band. They are a rock band. They are one of the best rock bands of the past ten years. They do not need a gender qualification.

Since I first discovered them in Seattle with the release of The Hot Rock ( iTunes | Amazon.com ), each album has improved on the previous one. Whenever I thought that they couldn’t get any better, they would produce a new masterpiece. The Woods was absolutely amazing. I was almost wet with anticipation of their next album.

Unfortunately, The Woods is likely the last masterpiece from Sleater-Kinney.

Dammit!

Official Website: Sleater-Kinney.com

Purchase Albums via: KillRockStars.com | iTunes | Amazon.com