Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold (Official Lyric Video)

I've written about Sleater-Kinney a couple of times over the past few months. Now is an interesting time to write about them because 2019's The Center Won't Hold album seems to have split people a bit. Produced by Annie Clark (aka St Vincent), it shows a slight change of direction for the band, which hasn't sat well with all the fans but which seems to have gone down fantastically well with critics. Janet Weiss' decision to leave the band shortly after the album's release hasn't helped with these conflicted feelings, with some fans treating it as vindication for their own doubts about the album.

Whatever your feelings about the album, Sleater-Kinney's recent UK tour was well attended and the band were received well by their loyal fanbase.

I've written a little bit about Sleater-Kinney fans recently in Sticks'N'Strings (you can subscribe here if you like) and I also reviewed the Manchester date of the Center Won't Hold tour for Louder Than War. Sleater-Kinney fans are incredibly loyal and, in previous years, extremely excitable to the point of being quite shove-y in the crowd. The first time I saw the band live was at Manchester Roadhouse, where I got shoved over the stage by a surge forward from the crowd. The second time, again at the Roadhouse, the venue let too many people in and we had to leave and miss the show after one of the girls I was with came very close to passing out from the heat.

A trip to see the band in 2005 on The Woods tour saw a subdued Sleater-Kinney playing at the Academy 2 on Oxford Road, supported by the Pipettes. It wasn't long after that that the band announced they would be taking a sabbatical. Having since read Carrie Brownstein's memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, it's easy to see now why this happened, but I don't think any of the band expected that sabbatical to go on so long.

In a way, it was the smartest move they ever made.

If they hadn't gone on sabbatical I think they would have burned out and split up, but also, they wouldn't have received the recognition and respect that they now have. Their continued presence would instead have ensured that they continued to be taken for granted by fans and by critics. In retreating, they ensured that they would be missed. And because they were (so, so very) missed, it ensured that their return in 2015 was met with the attention and anticipation they deserved. They were always a good band, but in 2015 people began to realise just how great they are.

The 2020 tour cemented this reputation for greatness for me, and I'm glad about that.