If It's Too Loud...

No Cities to Love has no business being truly great. When a band takes eight years off (and doesn't release an album for ten years), you're usually just happy they're back and touring. Reunion albums are usually filled with songs you have to sit through in between the songs you care about at a live show. But all of No Cities to Love  holds up with everything in Sleater-Kinney's catalog.  "Surface Envy" is a driving force of a song. It's the perfect shout along anthem you wish every band had, which is ironic considering another song on the album is titled "No Anthems." "A New Wave" might be my favorite song on the album. I'm only saying might because the video featuring members of Bob's Burgers  might be influencing me unfairly against other songs. Comeback albums are a dubious prospect, as are any albums from a band that have been around for 20 years. I don't mind waiting ten years between albums if they'll all be ...

As much as I loved Wild Flag's first and only album, when I heard they were breaking up, there was a hint of hope that it meant Sleater-Kinney might reunite. Then, all three members joined Pearl Jam on stage to cover "Rockin' In the Free World." On Friday, reports surfaced of a mystery 7" to be included with their new Start Together box set. Yesterday, it was confirmed that Sleater-Kinney is indeed reuniting, and they have a new album coming out that was secretly recorded. No Cities to Love  is due out on 1/20/15 on Sub Pop, and yes, there is a tour. You can get a download of "Bury Our Friends" for the cost of an email address at Sleater-Kinney's website . You can also check out their tour dates, which I couldn't be more excited for. For some reason, they were that band I never got out to see for no real reason, and I'll thankfully get another shot.