Hi, everyone, and welcome back! It’s time for another individual album review, this one being of the newest album from Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope.

For such a long time Sleater-Kinney have been one of those bands whose name I’ve seen/heard all over the internet, and yet I’m not sure I’d ever even listened to one of their songs until just recently when I decided to listen to all ten Sleater-Kinney albums multiple times each in preparation for this review of their eleventh album.

And despite all the critical acclaim, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Sleater-Kinney. Their first four albums, all released in the 1990s, bring a lot of energy and showed some promise, but I just didn’t find the song writing all that interesting, and the production was very hit-or-miss.

Now, with that being said, their 2000s music did grab my attention a little bit more, with albums like All Hands on the Bad One and One Beat showing them going in an interesting direction with punchier production and a bit more of a post-punk vibe at points, but I’ve just struggled to understand what the massive hype is with this band. Yes, there’s some interesting social commentary and the occasional strong hook, but I just find their full albums much harder to get into than a lot of critics.

After their most critically acclaimed album, The Woods, which was released in 2005, the band went on a hiatus and didn’t release another album until 2015’s No Cities to Love, a very good album that I think is quite well produced, with nice guitar distortion and lots of low-end presence that gives the songs more of an anthemic feeling, and some interesting commentary as well. But even that album just didn’t fully click for me, partially because I didn’t find the hooks super strong, and there are also other nitpicks in the sound quality and some moments that just didn’t feel as fully fleshed out as I would’ve liked.

And then came 2019’s The Center Won’t Hold and 2021’s Path of Wellness, both of which felt like generic alternative rock albums without much that really stood out to me at all, and it didn’t lead to me having high expectations for this new album. But I wanted to give it a chance, so after quite a few listens, what do I think of Little Rope?

Well, I do like it more than I thought I would, and considering my low expectations that’s not really saying much … but I do actually think this is a pretty decent album, and it shows that Sleater-Kinney might not be past their prime.

First of all, I think the production is mostly solid, giving some of these songs a bit more grit with the punchy snares and the cutting guitars. “Don’t Feel Right” is a good example of this, even though I find the more joyful instrumentation kind of awkward considering the frustrated lyrics. But it’s got strong guitar work, and the snare tones are really nice and the drums sound good in the mix! This song has kind of a post-punk vibe to it that I think mostly works.

Now, when it comes to the lyrics … well, this album comes in the aftermath of Carrie Brownstein losing her mother and stepfather. I’m not sure how much that influenced the lyrics, but either way, I don’t want to be insensitive here … but at the same time, I can’t really say the lyrics wowed me or anything. That’s just me, though, of course.

“Hell” is the opening track on this album, and it just doesn’t really do much for me. Yeah, it’s mixed well and the booming snare sounds really good, but while I get that there is a place for songs about not worrying too much and just trying to have a good time, this song feels like it tackles that subject in a really cliché way without bringing anything interesting to the table.

Thankfully the next track is way better in my opinion, that being “Needlessly Wild”, which also seems to represent a sort of carefree attitude, and the awesome fuzzy drums and some Deftones-esque vocal effects really help this song have more grit and energy! And that bassline totally rules! This is a great song that feels like something new for this band, and not like a bad attempt to recapture the feeling of their early records!

“Say It Like You Mean It” has some of my favourite vocal melodies on the album, as well as one of the best vocal performances. It’s a very emotional song about saying goodbye to people you care about, and the change to the higher vocal register in that final chorus is just heartbreaking, and the guitar sounds really good and adds a lot to the track!

But there’s one big thing that holds this track back for me. It might sound like too much of a nitpick, but the kick drum and the bass sound really awkward when combined with each other, creating a sort of watery texture that really kills the vibe of this song. I still think this song is really good, but if it weren’t for that one thing I think it would be a great song.

But I definitely like it more than the next song, “Hunt You Down”, which has some of the messiest production on the album, with the clunky drums and the sort of fuzzy-sounding bass that feels really out of place. And the kick drum feels overpowering in the mix. I do at least like some of the guitar work on this track, but there’s not really much about the vocal melodies that grabs my attention—it’s easily one of the weaker tracks on this album in my opinion.

I definitely like the mixing better on “Small Finds”, in which the distorted guitar and the drums complement each other quite well, with a strong bassline, too, and it’s got some punch to it. And I mostly like the chorus, too, although it kind of feels like it’s all building up to some big, epic moment that never happens. But still, it’s a mostly likeable track.

I do wish I liked the chorus better on the next track, “Don’t Feel Right”, but the mixing is really strong, with the drums adding some punch and the guitar having some great presence without feeling too overpowering. Like I said earlier, I like the sort of post-punk vibe of this song.

Next is “Six Mistakes”, which has some nice guitar melodies, even though the guitar distortion can be a bit much at points. The drums cut through the mix really well, though.

“Crusader” is my least favourite song on the album, partially because of just how polished the production feels, with the tightness of the sound actually working against the song in my opinion as it feels like it’s trying so hard to be this indie rock banger where all the instruments fit together perfectly … and instead it just sounds like a clunky mess, especially with the distortion on the guitar sounding much more like farts than I think was intended. And that chorus melody is very underwhelming, with lyrics that feel like cliché after cliché.

I do think the album ends pretty well, though, with the great bassline on “Dress Yourself”, which also has some really good percussion that’s got a bit of a shuffling sound to it, and then the closing track “Untidy Creature” with the desperation of trying to escape in the lyrics, and some of the best guitar distortion on the album, as well as that really good booming snare.

Overall, I like this album more than I thought I would, but I can’t say it’s an album I really think will have much replay value for me outside of “Needlessly Wild” and maybe “Say It Like You Mean It” and/or “Untidy Creature”.

Often the album’s got a fuzzier sound than I would like, and I wish the vocal melodies clicked for me more, but it does at least make me curious to hear whatever the band does next. So, for me it’s a 6/10, and I’d definitely recommend this to indie rock fans.

As always, though, feel free to let me know in the comments what you think of this album and/or what you think of my review. This is all just how I personally feel, and I’d love to hear what you think.

I know I didn’t go as in-depth as I would have liked, but I’ve been very busy recently. Anyway, I’ll be back with more reviews soon, and as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Needlessly Wild”, “Say It Like You Mean It”, “Small Finds”, “Dress Yourself”, “Untidy Creature”
Least Favourite Track: “Crusader”