The Center Won’t Hold is possibly the most divisive record of 2019. Months before even a single note was heard outside of the recording studio, when the photo of the band recording with Annie Clark of St. Vincent fame was released, many folks already had their minds made up. I heard declarations from folks that “Annie is going to replace Janet Weiss with a drum machine” and that “it’s just going to be a Carrie solo record.” Other fans were excited about the possible new direction, but those folks seemed to be muted by the naysayers, worried that an outside entity was going to destroy their favorite band.
After several months of this, a single was finally released. The song was “Hurry On Home” and I heard more chatter about the artwork than song. Admittedly, the song is definitely a departure for the band. The production is definitely fuller than past releases. Carrie Brownstein is handling all of the lead vocals, where normally bit Brownstein and Corin Tucker frequently share vocal duties. Instead, it sounds like Tucker has been relegated to the background. The signature anxious twitchiness is still there, but it felt closer to Nine Inch Nails’ cold, mechanical anxiety. The song is also passionate as hell, with some of the most introspective and analytical lyrics the band has ever produced.
It didn’t matter to the naysayers. This band, who have released eight perfect records, has been “Yoko Ono’d” by Annie Clark. (This is also pure nonsense, because The Beatles’ best work was after John Lennon met Ono, and Lennon’s solo work was pretty great.) Sleater-Kinney’s drummer for the last 22 years, Janet Weiss, quitting just a few weeks after a performance on The Tonight Show didn’t really help matters. Some fans had their minds made up. Unless the band simply released “Dig Me Out” part two, there are folks that are simply not going to be on board. That’s their loss.
The actual record arrived a full two months after their Tonight Show performance. Plenty of singles were released, but Sleater-Kinney have always been an album band, so it’s important to take the record in order.
#1: The Center Won’t Hold
Sleater-Kinney have also always been a guitar band. They even used to sell a t-shirt with the phrase “Show Me Your Riffs” written across the chest. So, when you first put the record to the needle, and don’t hear a guitar until 2:12, it’s a little weird. There are Sleater-Kinney albums where the first song is shorter than this. The whole thing feels synthetic at first, with vocals going everywhere, and a throbbing, slow beat in the background. It’s impossible to discern who is singing at first. Then, when the guitars kick in, it’s a full-on industrial assault. This could be the heaviest song in the Sleater-Kinney canon.
#2: Hurry On Home
The first single sounds like a “first single” in the context of the record. At this point, the record genuinely feels like a Nine Inch Nails album. The guitars come in and out of an electronic darkness, even on such a hooky song like “Hurry On Home.”
#3: Reach Out
A bouncing bassline over a single bass drum? Surprising for a band that has gone 25 years without a bassist. This song is the most radio-friendly song in the Sleater-Kinney canon. At least it is at first. When the guitars kick in, they are reverb-heavy –very 80’s. Tucker sounds the most soulful, yet reserved she’s ever sounded. You think they have gone easy, and then, right in the middle, you have a full on S-K rock n roll meltdown, which almost sounds more effective surrounded by such pure pop.
#4: Can I Go On
When people were worried about this sounding like a St Vincent record, this is the closest you are going to get. Brownstein is on the lead vocals. There is a clean, modern pop production, with layered vocals (instead of harmony) and buzzsaw guitars that magically appear out of nowhere, and then disappear into the folds. It’s another bouncy number accompanied by some of the darkest lyrics in S-K’s canon.
#5: Restless
This is the closest track on the record to a classic Sleater-Kinney ballad. It’s stripped-down to the basics for the most part with just guitar, drums, and vocals. It’s also the best I’ve ever heard Brownstein sing! The only song closes out with some great classic rock strings, although I can only wonder what this song would’ve sounded like if it was on The Hot Rock and the songs’ final verse was accompanied by a lone violin instead of a full string section.
#6: RUINS
This is the most on fire Janet Weiss is on the whole album. It’s a steady march, with some of the most aggressive fills on the record. There are a lot of spooky synths going, as well as some processed guitar. Tucker’s singing gets slowly more intense as the song goes on. There are more sounds enveloped in each other than I’ve ever heard on a Sleater-Kinney track. If you were to tell me that this was written as the theme to a horror film, I wouldn’t be surprised. If nobody picks this track up for their horror film, they are making a big mistake.
#7: LOVE
Of all of the songs on this record, this particular song is the one that has taken me the most time to really connect with. It opens with a Kraftwerk / Devo modular synth riff, with Brownstein sing-speaking her way through the verses. The chorus shifts to a major key, power pop burst of Tucker belting an elongated “LOOO-OOOO-OO-OVE.” This song calls to mind one of Sleater-Kinney’s biggest influences and favorite bands to cover, The B-52’s. Once I realized that this was all an homage to one of the most groundbreaking bands of the alternative rock era, I started to really enjoy it.
#8: Bad Dance
This is another song that’s practically classic Sleater-Kinney. We have all of the elements – a killer main riff, dual lead vocals that almost feel like they are attacking each other, and a driving, muscular beat. The only real difference is that all of this just feels “bigger” than they’ve sounded before. I can’t wait to hear this song live.
#9: The Future Is Here
Dear god, this song is good. Of all of the singles, this was my personal favorite. There have been plenty of songs written about feeling disconnected because of technology, but this one is potent. When Tucker belts in the bridge, “I’ve never felt so goddamn lost and alone,” it’s positively chilling. The song builds and builds, and never lets you breathe. It’s the sonic equivalent of suffocating under the weight of trying to live in the current reality.
#10: The Dog / The Body
This is one of the most triumphant sounding songs in the Sleater-Kinney catalog. It’s big, with a massive sing-along chorus. It’s also one of the darkest, loneliest pieces of lyric on an album where almost every song is about loneliness and despair. It would feel cathartic if the song felt like it had a way out, but all sort of ends up sounding like the despair one, even though it sounds like it didn’t.
#11: Broken
The record ends with a heartbreaking piano ballad. Early interviews have stated that this song was heavily inspired by “Stay” by Rihanna, and I hear the soulful pangs in Tucker’s voice, underneath the slow, yet intense piano line. It’s the most beautiful album closer since “A Quarter To Three” off of 1999’s The Hot Rock.
So, no, this isn’t your typical Sleater-Kinney record. I feel like a lot of people hoped for a loud, driving rock record that directly attacks the Trump administration. This is also not that record. If you are looking for that record, check out Corin Tucker’s other band, Filthy Friends. They put out a record earlier this year called Emerald Valley, and they fill that need pretty succinctly on that release. However, if you are looking for a dark, brooding album that challenges the listener, and might even alienate even the most hardcore fans, this is that record. It’s a record that demands repeatedly listenings so you can peel back the layers and get to the mighty core of it – a blunt dissection of the despair one feels when they no longer feel the connections they once had.
