Additional personnel: Roger Mutenot (slide guitar); Seth Warren (violin, viola).
Recorded at Avast Studio, Seattle, Washington in July 1998.
Audio Remasterer: Greg Calbi.
Recording information: Avast Studio, Seattle, WA (07/1998).
Photographer: Marina Chavez.
With 1997's DIG ME OUT, Sleater-Kinney were about as mainstream-popular as decidedly dissonant indie-rock girls could be. As the archetypal riot-grrrl collective, the trio found themselves emblazoned on the cover of all the requisite magazines and in practically every fashionable up-and-comer's list. Which begged the eternal question of the follow-up, and how to make one. Luckily, Sleater-Kinney's appeal lies primarily in its iconoclasm, and with THE HOT ROCK it retained its indie credibility on the Kill Rock Stars label, while becoming even more raw and experimental.
While the album features undeniably catchy ditties such as the title track and the singalong "Get Up," it also includes darker, more intricate cuts such as "God Is a Number," and "Banned From the End of the World." Though definitely not a calculated effort to woo the world opened up to them by their unexpected popularity, THE HOT ROCK remains a refreshingly rocking album.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.136) - Ranked # 15 in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...A diamond of a pop-rock record..."
Rolling Stone (3/4/99, p.88) - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...the overall mood and tempo are downbeat, with heavy aura of New Wave Eurogloom....As THE HOT ROCK proves, these birlliant punk pranksters can end up anywhere they like..."
Spin (p.95) - "Wherein both the Beatles and the Stones of riot grrrl temper their breakneck aggression with something knottier, artier, more emotionally fraught..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/19-2/26/99, p.134) - "...Carrie Brownstein's Morse-code guitar is brighter and more piercing than ever, and Corin Tucker's ululating, straining-the-leash wail continues to scorch ears and level buildings...It's Sleater-Kinney's most finely turned record....the music never falters..." - Rating: A
Q (5/99, p.114) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...jagged melodies, jerky rhythms, crisp rolling drumbeats and skeetering guitar lines are their musical calling cards....the bulk of these songs steam in at a regulation three and a half minutes of short, sharp punchy blasts of melody and agression."
