ILLUSTRATION BY
Go ̃ni MontesSLEATER-
KINNEY’S
RADICAL RAGE
One of America’s
greatest bands
does battle with
modern apathy
on thrilling LP
By WILL HERMESMusic
Sleater-Kinney
The Center
Won’t Hold
Mom + Pop
4S
LEATER-KINNEY deliver
the goods almost
immediately on their
new LP, on a title track
that begins with industrial
clangs, then explodes into
rock fury rivaling anything
in their catalog, a barrage of
Nevermind-grade guitar blasts
pacing Corin Tucker’s ca-
thartic, paint-peeling howls.
She paraphrases the famous
“Things fall apart, the center
cannot hold” line from
Yeats’ “The Second Coming.”
Tucker might be describing
a psyche, a relationship, or
planetary climate change:
Pick your nearly lost cause.
The Center Won’t Hold is
S-K’s first studio set since
No Cities to Love, their 2015
comeback, and their first of
the MeToo era, which