#272 - Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out (1997)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
BACKGROUND – SLEATER-KINNEY
Sleater-Kinney is an Olympia, Washington rock band that formed in 1994. The influence of punk, “riot grrrl”, alternative rock, and the declaration of liberal feminist ideals has made Sleater-Kinney a unique and central part of the indie scene. The band is also known for its feminist and liberal politics.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s in the Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. It is a subculturalmovement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less common for women. Riot grrrl songs often addressed issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, classism, anarchism, and female empowerment. Primary bands most associated with the movement include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, Excuse 17, Slant 6, and Emily's Sassy Lim. In addition to a unique music scene and genre, riot grrrl became a subculture involving a Do-It-Yourself work ethic and activism. Riot grrrls are known to hold meetings, start chapters, and support and organize women in music as well as art created by transgender people, gay individuals, lesbians, and other communities.
It originated when a group of women from Olympia, Washington, held a meeting about sexism in their local punk scenes. The word “girl” was intentionally used in order to focus on childhood, a time when children have the strongest self-esteem and belief in themselves.Riot grrrls then took a growling "R", replacing the "I" in the word as a way to take back the derogatory use of the term.Both double and triple "R" spellings are acceptable. Riot grrrl musicians were inspired by the musical drama movie Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, which tells the story of a (fictional) seemingly proto-riot grrrl band
Sleater-Kinney was formed in early 1994 by Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein. The group's name derives from Sleater Kinney Road, in Lacey, Washington, where one of the band's early practice spaces was located. Tucker was formerly in the influential riot grrrl band Heavens to Betsy, while Brownstein was formerly in the band Excuse 17. They often played at gigs together and formed Sleater-Kinney as a side project from their respective bands. When Heavens to Betsy and Excuse 17 disbanded, Sleater-Kinney became their primary focus.
Upon Tucker's graduation from college, she and her then-girlfriend Brownstein took a trip to Australia in early 1994. On their last day there, they stayed up all night recording what would become their self-titled debut album. It was released the following spring. They followed this with Call the Doctor(1996). The album was written in three weeks and recorded in four days. According to Tucker, the writing was inspired by a "crap" job she had and how people are "consumerized and commodified" by society. The album features no bassplayer. As Tucker explained, "We started writing songs with two guitars, and we liked the way it sounded. It gives us a lot of freedom to write these lines that go back and forth." That leads us to today's album.
Since 1997, Sleater-Kinney has released seven additional albums over the years, each representing another step in their musical growth, and pushing the band towards mainstream listeners, culminating in 2002's One Beat. The group opened for Pearl Jam at many North American shows beginning in 2003, and the band cited the experience of playing in large arenas as part of the inspiration and motivation for the music found on their seventh album, The Woods. The Woods was released in 2005 and featured a denser, heavily distorted sound that drew on classic rock as its inspiration. They went on hiatus in 2006 and devoted themselves to solo projects. They reunited in 2014 and released No Cities to Love in 2015, and Live in Paris in January 2017. Their second studio album after their reunion, The Center Won't Hold, was produced by St. Vincent, and released in August 2019. Drummer Janet Weiss left the band at this point citing creative differences and that Corin & Carrie completely control the direction of the band. The band's tenth studio album and their first self-produced album, Path of Wellness, was released in June 2021.
Britt Daniel of the band Spoon said of Sleater-Kinney when they released Dig Me Out - "Even at that time, they felt legendary to me... Like they were coming out of nowhere with this sound that was totally unique and really aggressive. I hadn't seen anything like that before, I hadn't heard anything like that before."
ALBUM BACKGROUND – DIG ME OUT
Dig Me Out is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released in April 1997. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded in December 1996 and January 1997. Dig Me Out marked the debut of Janet Weiss, who would become the band's longest-serving drummer. The music on the record was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands, while the lyrics deal with issues of heartbreak and survival. The album was acclaimed by music critics, who praised the album's energy and feminist lyrics. Retrospectively, Dig Me Out is considered the band's breakthrough record and is frequently included on several publications' best album lists.
The album cover is an homage to the Kinks' 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy. The layouts are identical, with the exception that the Kinks had a fourth member and thus a fourth portrait lining the top. Sleater-Kinney substituted their own portraits and their own guitars. As a fan of the Kinks, Weiss explained that the cover suggested that Sleater-Kinney could be an example of a "revered" rock band. The album's title was inspired by the fact that the band had to literally dig out the recording studio after a heavy snowstorm that took place in Winter 1996 in Seattle.
In her 2015 memoir, Carrie Brownstein states that almost all the songs on Dig Me Out are about either her or Corin Tucker's future husband, Lance Bangs. Musically, Dig Me Out was considered rockier than its predecessor. Weiss' drumming style was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Kinks, as well as blues rock musicians such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, and Bessie Smith. Both Tucker and Brownstein remarked that Weiss became an essential part of the band's sound.
This is the only time we'll be talking about Sleater-Kinney on T500. This album jumped 83 spots to #189 on the 2020 rerank.
Some reviews of the album include: "The record took the band from the cult corner of the Pacific Northwest to international acclaim". Another said "the album "was a revelation for both its clever use of punk principles and for its breakdown of social assumptions.". Finally, The band "succeeded in reshaping what was considered possible for punk rock, and that the album transformed the band into an institution of rebellion and proponents of a musical insurgency. And they never compromised on their ideas of what music could and should be."
During the recording sessions, recording the vocal interplay between Tucker and Brownstein involved some difficulties. Producer John Goodmanson figured out the solution: "We always used different mikes for the lead vocal and for the second vocal, or different kinds of processing to make those things really distinct. To make it so you can hear both things at once"