Sleater-Kinney new Album "The Center Won't Hold"

I think St. Vincent/Annie Clark used the same sort of stylized poses on her last tour. I think it’s supposed to be some sort of comment on our ironic and detached age, as spelled out in the lyric “disconnect me from my phones / so I can live again.” What’s really ironic, though, is that Sleater-Kinney’s music used to embody a raw, feeling, human alternative to the cynical time we live in, but now they’re just participating in the same tired post-punk ironic rehash that’s been going on at least since Interpol’s first album all the way through St. Vincent’s inane Mass Seduction LP. Instead of watching robots cooly deconstruct our post-modern ailments with post-modern music, give me the Sleater-Kinney of Dig Me Out or The Woods.

 

The new keyboardist on the right looks like St Vincent’s keyboardist?
I love SK. I loved St Vincent’s self titled lp and her amazing SNL performance.
This felt like SK directed by Annie. It’s a weird fit. Instead of SK forging ahead doing their thing, this felt like SK trying to be St Vincent. I like the song but the hand signals, the keyboardist, it felt like SK copying St Vincent too closely.

 

I'm with you. I love both and I like the idea of the combination, quite a bit. I love the new song, but the art direction and choreography really does feel like trying to shoehorn SK into the St. Vincent aesthetic instead of creating a synthesis of the two or something wholly new.

 

I actually like the second song a lot too. I’m grtting used to not comparing this to other SK musically. Visually I’m not sure about. This is definitely going to be a love it / hate it thing.

 

i've been following them since growing up on the street that they appropriated for their name decades ago. i'll take whatever they throw at me, even if i have to listen with an eyebrow raised.

 

First I heard the song last night on The Tonight Show

It just sounded weird to me

And I’m a BigFan

 

Janet Weiss just announced on twitter she is leaving the band

damn

 

She didn't like the new direction of the band.

 

Very sad news! I kind of don’t want to know the gritty details. The album has already been made. Did she not like it? Or were they trying to change more? It kind of puts a dent in the anticipation of this new album...

 

based on those new songs I heard, neither do it..ha

 

maybe kurt vile and Courtney Barnett can snag her for another album/tour

 

Yeah, weird timing (ha). Already did the TV appearance and everything.

 

Weiss must really not like the new direction of the band to quit on the eve of what will presumably be a lucrative tour and album cycle for them, regardless of how good or bad their new synth direction is.

 

that's what you call being a true artist

 

Agreed. That strikes me as odd that she already had done TV promotion for the new record and still quit.

 

It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a combination of being nudged out and strongly disliking the new material

 

Bummer. Was excited to see them again in October.

 

Sad news, and my immediate assumption is that the new direction doesn't resonate with her any longer. There is no way I will now want to see them live on the upcoming tour, not that I wanted to anyway based on the two new songs, which is my least favourite thing they've done by far. This is almost like the Pixies. It's not the Pixies without Kim Deal, and the same goes for this band.

 

Other sites are posting her statement, so here it is.......................

 

If the other two were going to nudge her out, why didn’t they nudge her out before the album was recorded? Her quitting on the eve of the album release, after they’ve already promoted the new album on Fallon, isn’t good publicity for the other two and for the album launch. As Vern’s post above reflects, this news doubtless hurts ticket sales for the tour and gives fans on the fence about the new direction a reason to stay home.

 

Here's where I get roasted, I guess: I think JW is overrated as a drummer. Never seemed technically amazing or especially interesting/idiosyncratic.

 

Technically amazing isn’t exactly what Sleater-Kinney has been about.

 

Note I said "or interesting." I'm all about Meg White — she has a style.

 

Though they are and have been very good technically.

Drums seem to occupy a different role on the new album-- don't think they're programmed, but they sound like loops of live drums. I would guess that Janet wasn't happy working this way.

 

My thoughts exactly. And props to Janet for having the integrity to bow out, though I'm sort of surprised she didn't quit during the album sessions if she disliked the new sound so much. Maybe there was some post-production work she didn't approve of?