Last night I was able to make it to the Sleater Kinney show at El Rey. It was very cool. Quasi opened for them. Yes, Janet is doing double-duty on drums for both bands. This show is part of their “mini” tour before they go into the studio to record their next album.
They tried out 4 new songs at the show and I have to say, Sleater Kinney has really grown up. They’ve always shown a talent as very strong songwriters. But gone are the days are the sweetly simple tunes like “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.” They have been moving more and more in this direction with every album. The new songs are extremely musically complex with lots of different changes in tempo and time signature throughout.
It’s great to see a band mature so nicely. As my friend, Dave, remarked at the show. “The Sleater Kinney audience isn’t the same as I used to see. There’s a lot of guys hanging out here.” It’s true. They’re not the riot grrl band they started out as. They are now politically and socially minded indie rockstars. They still have an important message in many of their songs. It’s just aimed at a larger audience.
You can check out their tour diary on their website. Thankfully I get to see them again tonight.