Indie music fans around the world were taken by (pleasant) surprise late last year when the members of seminal Washington band Sleater-Kinney announced they were getting the band back together after a near-decade hiatus.
Yes, right around the time Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss reminded the music world of their irreplaceability by re-releasing all Sleater-Kinney studio albums via the "Start Together" box set, they also dropped the news that they'd be releasing a new LP, "No Cities to Love," in 2015.
In a recent interview for NPR Music, guitarist and "Portlandia" star Brownstein told the members of comedy troupe Broad City that the band strives for "the unapologetic obliteration of the sacred." Few could articulate Sleater-Kinney's musical message better than that. Since 1994, the trio has unleashed a blistering combination of punk, indie, riot grrrl and classic rock that has spawned countless devotees and emulators.
Sleater-Kinney plays a sold out show on Feb. 12 at Denver's Ogden Theatre. Enter to win a pair of tickets via our Facebook giveaway.
And in the meantime, check out a few artists you might also like if you're a Sleater-Kinney fan:
Bikini Kill
Widely regarded as pioneers of the feminist "riot grrrl" music movement of the '90s, Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill embraced the true ethos of punk by tackling uncomfortable subjects head on through their lyrics, with no concern of being labeled as abrasive or controversial.
Hanna's band aimed to make women feel more powerful at rock shows, whether they were in the audience or on stage performing.
Dinosaur Jr.
Unlike S-K, this power trio features bass guitar rather than down-tuned six-strings. In fact, Lou Barlow's bass and songwriting chops are as vital to Dinosaur Jr.'s punk-inspired rock as J. Mascis' signature guitar solos.
Joanna Gruesome
Widely celebrated in their native Wales, five-piece Joanna Gruesome (a play on singer-songwriter and "Inherent Vice actress Joanna Newsom) borrows from Sleater-Kinney's breakneck tempos and feminist ideals for its deliciously melodic garage rock.
Ex Hex
Featuring Mary Timony, who played with Brownstein and Weiss in the short-lived Wild Flag, Ex Hex quickly gained comparisons to classic '90s indie last October with the excellent garage-pop of debut album "Rips."
Read Jessi Whitten's blog about Sleater-Kinney and the class of 2005.
