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No Cities to Love
Studio album by Sleater-Kinney
Released	January 20, 2015
Recorded	January–February 2014
Studio	Electrokitty Recording (Seattle) Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studios (Portland, Oregon) Tiny Telephone (San Francisco)
Genre	Punk rock
Length	32:17
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	John Goodmanson
Sleater-Kinney chronology
Start Together (2014) No Cities to Love (2015) The Center Won't Hold (2019)
Singles from No Cities to Love
"Bury Our Friends" Released: October 20, 2014

No Cities to Love is the eighth studio album by American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on January 20, 2015, through Sub Pop. It is the first album following a decade-long hiatus and the band's 2005 release, The Woods. The album received universal acclaim from music critics and was listed on several "Best Albums of 2015" lists.

Recording and release

The album was recorded in secret mostly at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, with additional sessions at Electrokitty in Seattle and Kung Fu Bakery in Portland. It was produced by John Goodmanson.

On December 22, 2014, No Cities to Love was accidentally streamed three weeks early by Sub Pop. As of January 30, 2015, the album has sold 28,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The video for the title track features celebrities singing the song, including Andy Samberg, Vanessa Bayer, Fred Armisen, Evan Rachel Wood, Connie Britton, Sarah Silverman, Norman Reedus, Miranda July, Brie Larson, Natasha Lyonne, Elliot Page, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, and My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way.

In support of the album, the band toured North America and Europe. Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot listed the supporting tour as one of the winter's top rock shows.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.7/10
Metacritic	90/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	A−
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)	A
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
The Irish Times
NME	9/10
Pitchfork	8.7/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	9/10

No Cities to Love was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 90, based on 39 reviews. Los Angeles Times critic Randall Roberts said "the work commands attention", while Jon Pareles from The New York Times said it was "the first great album of 2015", full of "hurtling, bristling, densely packed, white-knuckled songs that are all taut construction and raw nerve". Robert Christgau gave the record an "A" and felt it may be Sleater-Kinney's best record, while writing in Cuepoint: "Honed back down to punky three-minute songs because the leisure to stretch out is a luxury they can't presently afford, the music carries the seed of tumult to come, the sense that something or everything could explode without notice just the way this album did." In The Observer, Kitty Empire said the band had executed "pretty much the most perfect comeback of recent years" and sounded "exactly as taut and emotive as they used to." Writing with high praise for Exclaim!, Chris Bilton called the record "a thoroughly raging collection of post-punk anthems that nudges up the powerful perfection of 2005's The Woods at least another notch." Music journalist Graham Reid said it had "all the stabbing energy of Gang of Four, the blazing passion of Siouxsie Sioux and the drama of Hole at their (rare) best". In an interview for Rolling Stone, musician St. Vincent said it was her favorite Sleater-Kinney record so far and "a crowning jewel in their legacy".

Accolades

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sleater-Kinney

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic

Sleater-Kinney

• Corin Tucker — guitar, vocals
• Carrie Brownstein — guitar, vocals
• Janet Weiss — drums

Technical personnel

• Greg Calbi — mastering
• John Goodmanson — engineer, mixing, production
• Thea Lorentzen – cover photo, design
• Mike Mills – art direction, cover photo, design
• Jay Pellicci – engineer
• Garrett G. Reynolds – engineer
• Brigitte Sire – band photo

Charts

References

Notes

1. ^ Christgau, Robert (February 13, 2015). "Robert Christgau: Expert Witness". Cuepoint. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
2. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love, Sub Pop, retrieved January 3, 2015
3. Phillips & Pelly 2014.
4. ^ Pareles 2014.
5. "Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love". Album of the Year. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
6. Goodman 2014.
7. Sub Pop 2014.
8. Rettig 2014.
9. White, Emily (January 30, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney Hits New High on Billboard 200 & Top Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on January 30, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
10. Spanos, Brittany (January 15, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney Draft Sarah Silverman, Norman Reedus for Star-Studded Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
11. Guardian 2014.
12. Albertson 2014.
13. Kot 2015.
14. "No Cities To Love by Sleater-Kinney reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
15. ^ "Reviews for No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney". Metacritic. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
16. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "No Cities to Love – Sleater-Kinney". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
17. Eakin, Marah (January 20, 2015). "With No Cities To Love, Sleater-Kinney opens up and closes in". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
18. Maerz, Melissa (January 15, 2015). "No Cities to Love". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
19. Stevens, Jenny (January 15, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love review – a towering, fists-up comeback". The Guardian. London. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
20. Kane, Siobhan (January 23, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love | Album Review". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
21. Hebblethwaite, Phil (January 9, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney – 'No Cities To Love'". NME. London. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
22. Pelly, Jenn (January 20, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
23. Sheffield, Rob (January 12, 2015). "No Cities to Love". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
24. Weiss, Dan (January 16, 2015). "Review: Sleater-Kinney Return With the Incendiary, Swaggering 'No Cities To Love'". Spin. New York. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
25. Roberts 2015.
26. Empire, Kitty (January 18, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love review – taut and emotive post-punk trio return". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
27. Bilton, Chris (January 16, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
28. Reid, Graham (February 11, 2015). "Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)". Elsewhere. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
29. Clark 2014.
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42. FasterLouder (December 3, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". FasterLouder. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
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Sources

• It's official: Sub Pop can keep a secret (Sleater-Kinney to release new record/tour), Sub Pop, October 20, 2014
• Phillips, Amy; Pelly, Jenn (October 20, 2014), "Sleater-Kinney Return! New Album No Cities to Love! 2015 Tour! "Bury Our Friends" Lyric Video!", Pitchfork
• "Sleater-Kinney announce first new album in a decade, No Cities to Love", The Guardian, London, October 20, 2014
• Goodman, Jessica (October 20, 2014), "Sleater-Kinney Confirms New Album 'No Cities To Love' And 2015 Tour", Huffington Post
• Albertson, Jeff (December 9, 2014), "Sleater-Kinney adds third Seattle show to 'No Cities To Love' tour", The Seattle Times
• Rettig, James (December 22, 2014), "Sub Pop Accidentally Streamed Sleater-Kinney's Reunion Album 3 Weeks Early", Stereogum
• Pareles, Jon (December 31, 2014), "Sleater-Kinney's Secret Basement Sessions", The New York Times
• Clark, Anne (December 29, 2014), "The Best of 2014: Broad City, St. Vincent and More Look Back", Rolling Stone
• Kot, Greg (January 2, 2015), "Top rock shows in Chicago this winter", Chicago Tribune
• Roberts, Randall (January 2, 2015), "Under-the-radar pop albums to watch for this year", The Los Angeles Times

Further reading

• "Sleater-Kinney 2.0: The Band Talks About Its First Album In 10 Years". NPR. November 20, 2014.

External links

• Sleater-Kinney "ask us anything" about No Cities To Love at reddit.com, December 2, 2014

• 2015 albums
• Albums produced by John Goodmanson
• Sleater-Kinney albums
• Sub Pop albums