PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIMBERLEYROSS
When Sleater-Kinney emerged amid the ’90s riot-grrrl movement, they stood out as a group of three young women making explosive records fueled by rage. The trio’s new effort, Little Rope (Loma Vista), is barely less explosive but fueled primarily by a different emotion: grief. Sleater-Kinney were midway through the songwriting process when guitarist Carrie Brownstein learned that her mother and stepfather had been killed in a car accident while on holiday in Italy.
On this new album, Brownstein and fellow guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker manifest all the feelings of loss in sounds that range from thundering to delicate. Now 30 years into their career, Tucker’s monumental voice is more than equal to the task, and both guitarists wrestle their Gibsons into tones both caustic and vulnerable.