When it was announced that Sleater-Kinney would be recording their new album with producer St. Vincent (Annie Clark) fans expected some changes to the groups rocking sound. It is doubtful anyone expected this much of a shift though as the trio’s tenth record, The Center Won’t Hold, is unlike anything the band has ever done.
Guitar solos are gone, wild punk abandon is nowhere to be found. In their place comes cool electro-fueled dance beats, 80’s influenced neon synths and sweeping pop indulgence.
The start of the record is the perfect fusing of Sleater-Kinney’s (Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss) angular rock and Clark’s pop production as the title track is an ominous apocalyptical warning over clanging instrumentation ending on a raging rave-up. Follow up “Hurry On Home” displays all the positive hallmarks of the St. Vincent/SK collaboration with its burning dance laden yelping swirl of poppy electro-rock.
After the winning opening run, the number of synths, bass samples and beats overtakes things in an almost confusing haze. “Reach Out” uses a lonely Tucker lyric and colors it with late night club vibes, “Bad Dance” toys with industrial dance music and “Can I Go On” is a personal plea with pop flair, another disco dance beat and some distorted riffs for coloring. Lyrically the album feels extremely honest, yet pairing these words with the upbeat bass and club sounds don’t always synch up.
Two tracks tend to sum up the record as a whole. “The Future Is Here” pumps up thin-sounding synths but digs in via a raw lyrical display stating “I need you more than I ever have because the future’s here and we can’t go back” but instead of diving into that idea a literal “na na na” dance-it-off chorus cuts off the connective plea, while album centerpiece “RUINS” goes big with violins/strings, bass samples and distortion/feedback around the edges but drags on for too long not moving anywhere.
There are some truly engaging nuances as well; “Restless” has a confessional vibe, playing like the coolest Bruce Springsteen track of the last 30 years while “LOVE” is a literal history of the band around a thin video game bleeping samples out of Devo’s playbook. Perhaps most surprising twist is the grandiose naked pop which ends the record, “The Dog/The Body” is massive, auditioning to be the centerpiece of the SK’s imagined Broadway musical, while album closer “Broken” directly addresses #metoo and Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony in sweeping dramatic fashion via stark piano and Tuckers amazing voice.
Long-time drummer Weiss announced her departure from the group before this album’s release stating the band is moving in a new direction (albeit one she recorded with them) already casting this release in a career-changing light before anyone heard a note. It remains to be seen if The Center Won’t Hold is a transitional record to more mainstream dance laden tracks for the group or a one-off pop experiment, but after the uniqueness and curiosity wears off Sleater-Kinney’s newest is a mixed bag.
