No Cities to Love explained

No Cities to Love
Type:studio
Artist:Sleater-Kinney
Cover:No Cities to Love cover.jpg
Border:yes
Released:January 20, 2015
Recorded:January–February 2014
Studio:
Genre:Indie rock, punk rock
Label:Sub Pop
Producer:John Goodmanson
Prev Title:Start Together
Prev Year:2014
Next Title:The Center Won't Hold
Next Year:2019

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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

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

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.[4] 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."[5] 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."[6] 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."[7] 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".[8] 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

PublicationRankList
AllMusicBest Rock Albums of 2015[9]
American Songwriter49Top 50 Albums of 2015[10]
The A.V. Club2The 15 Best Albums of 2015[11]
Billboard1425 Best Albums of 2015[12]
Clash7Top 50 Albums of 2015[13]
Consequence of Sound8Top 50 Albums of 2015[14]
Cosmopolitan9The 15 Best Albums of 2015[15]
The Daily Beast1The Best Albums of 2015[16]
Diffuser6The 50 Best Albums of 2015[17]
Drowned in Sound9Favourite Albums of 2015[18]
Entertainment Weekly14The 40 Best Albums of 2015[19]
Exclaim!4Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2015[20]
FasterLouder4The 50 Best Albums of 2015[21]
Gigwise30Top 55 Albums of 2015[22]
The Guardian6The Best Albums of 2015[23]
Loud and Quiet10Top 40 Albums of 2015[24]
Magnet12Top 25 Albums of 2015[25]
Mashable21The 30 Best Albums of 2015[26]
MOJO1450 Best Albums of 2015[27]
MusicOMH2Top 50 Albums of 2015[28]
Newsweek17The Top 20 Albums of 2015[29]
NME13NME's Albums of the Year 2015[30]
No Ripcord7Top 50 Albums of 2015[31]
Paste4The 50 Best Albums of 2015[32]
Pitchfork27The 50 Best Albums of 2015[33]
PopMatters16The 80 Best Albums of 2015[34]
Pretty Much Amazing11Best 50 Albums of 2015[35]
Q35The 50 Best Albums of 2015[36]
Reverb3The Ten Best Albums of 2015[37]
Rolling Stone1150 Best Albums of 2015[38]
Rough Trade60Albums of the Year 2015[39]
The Skinny1The 50 Best Albums of 2015[40]
Spin11The 50 Best Albums of 2015[41]
Sputnikmusic7Top 50 Albums of 2015[42]
Stereogum27The 50 Best Albums of 2015[43]
Time9Top 10 Best Albums of 2015[44]
Time Out London40The 50 Best Albums of 2015[45]
Treble6The 50 Best Albums of 2015[46]
Uncut23Top 75 Albums of 2015[47]
Under the Radar17Top 100 Albums of 2015[48]
Variance32The 50 Best Albums of 2015[49]

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic[50]

Sleater-Kinney
Technical personnel

Charts

Year-end charts

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love. Album of the Year. January 1, 2016.
  2. Sleater-Kinney Hits New High on Billboard 200 & Top Rock Albums . White . Emily . . . January 30, 2015 . January 30, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150130233201/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6457965/sleater-kinney-new-high-billboard-200 . January 30, 2015 . live.
  3. Sleater-Kinney Draft Sarah Silverman, Norman Reedus for Star-Studded Video . Spanos . Brittany . Brittany Spanos . 2015-01-15 . Rolling Stone . 2024-01-14.
  4. Web site: Reviews for No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney. Metacritic. January 15, 2015.
  5. Web site: Christgau. Robert. Robert Christgau. Robert Christgau: Expert Witness. Cuepoint. February 13, 2015. February 15, 2015.
  6. News: Empire. Kitty. Kitty Empire. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love review – taut and emotive post-punk trio return. The Observer. London. January 18, 2015. March 13, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150123100952/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/18/sleater-kinney-no-cities-to-love-review. January 23, 2015 . live.
  7. Bilton. Chris. Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love. Exclaim!. January 16, 2015. January 19, 2015 .
  8. Web site: Reid. Graham. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love (Sub Pop). Elsewhere. February 11, 2015. March 18, 2015.
  9. Web site: Best Rock Albums of 2015. AllMusic staff. December 30, 2015. AllMusic. December 30, 2015.
  10. Web site: American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums Of 2015. American Songwriter. November 23, 2015. American Songwriter. December 3, 2015.
  11. Web site: The 15 Best Albums of 2015. The A.V. Club Staff. December 7, 2015. The A.V. Club. December 7, 2015.
  12. 25 Best Albums of 2015. Billboard Staff. December 15, 2015. Billboard. December 18, 2015.
  13. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2015. Clash Staff. December 17, 2015. Clash. December 18, 2015.
  14. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2015. CoS Staff. December 2, 2015. Consequence of Sound. December 3, 2015.
  15. Web site: The 15 Best Albums of 2015. Eliza Thompson. December 16, 2015. Cosmopolitan. December 29, 2015.
  16. Web site: The Best Albums of 2015. Marlow Stern. December 14, 2015. The Daily Beast. December 15, 2015.
  17. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Diffuser Staff. December 8, 2015. Diffuser. December 8, 2015.
  18. Web site: Favourite Albums of 2015. Sean Adams. December 17, 2015. Drowned in Sound. December 17, 2015. April 16, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160416131244/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4149657-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-the-year-2015. dead.
  19. The 40 Best Albums of 2015. EW Staff. December 9, 2015. Entertainment Weekly. December 12, 2015.
  20. Web site: Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2015. Exclaim! Staff. December 3, 2015. Exclaim!. December 18, 2015.
  21. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151207223344/http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/the-50-best-albums-of-2015/852415/6. dead. December 7, 2015. FasterLouder. December 3, 2015. FasterLouder. December 4, 2015.
  22. Web site: Top 55 Albums of 2015. Gigwise staff. December 19, 2015. Gigwise. December 23, 2015.
  23. Web site: The Best Albums of 2015. The Guardian staff. December 2, 2015. The Guardian. December 14, 2015.
  24. Web site: Top 40 Albums of 2015. Loud and Quiet staff. December 11, 2015. Loud and Quiet. December 11, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151213034448/http://www.loudandquiet.com/2015/12/top-40-albums-of-2015/. December 13, 2015. dead.
  25. Web site: Top 25 Albums of 2015. Magnet staff. Magnet. 18 December 2015 . December 21, 2015.
  26. Web site: The 30 Best Albums of 2015. Mashable Staff. December 15, 2015. Mashable. December 16, 2015.
  27. Web site: 50 Best Albums of 2015. MOJO Staff. November 24, 2015. MOJO. December 8, 2015.
  28. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2015. MusicOMH Staff. December 17, 2015. MusicOMH. December 21, 2015.
  29. Web site: The Top 20 Albums of 2015. Newsweek Staff. December 10, 2015. Newsweek. December 14, 2015.
  30. Web site: NME's Albums Of The Year 2015. NME Staff. December 2, 2015. NME. December 4, 2015.
  31. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2015. No Ripcord Staff. December 17, 2015. No Ripcord. December 18, 2015.
  32. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Paste Staff. December 2, 2015. Paste. December 2, 2015.
  33. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Pitchfork Staff. December 16, 2015. Pitchfork. December 17, 2015.
  34. Web site: The 80 Best Albums of 2015. PopMatters Staff. December 7, 2015. PopMatters. December 7, 2015.
  35. Web site: 50 Best Albums of 2015. Pretty Much Amazing Staff. December 18, 2015. Pretty Much Amazing. December 18, 2015. June 13, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160613122005/http://prettymuchamazing.com/features/best-albums-2015. dead.
  36. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Q Staff. November 25, 2015. Q. December 4, 2015.
  37. Web site: The Ten Best Albums of 2015. Reverb Staff. December 1, 2015. Reverb. December 8, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160103151357/http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2015/12/01/the-ten-best-albums-of-2015/110645/. January 3, 2016. dead.
  38. 50 Best Albums of 2015. Rolling Stone Staff. December 1, 2015. Rolling Stone. December 3, 2015.
  39. Web site: Albums of the Year 2015. Rough Trade Staff. Rough Trade. December 8, 2015. December 5, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151205191530/http://www.roughtrade.com/aoty15. dead.
  40. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. The Skinny Staff. The Skinny. December 7, 2015. December 9, 2015.
  41. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. SPIN Staff. December 1, 2015. SPIN. December 3, 2015.
  42. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2015. Sputnik Staff. December 16, 2015. Sputnikmusic. December 21, 2015.
  43. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2015. Stereogum Staff. December 1, 2015. Stereogum. December 3, 2015.
  44. Top 10 Best Albums. Time Staff. December 1, 2015. Time. December 3, 2015.
  45. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Time Out London Staff. December 17, 2015. Time Out London. December 21, 2015.
  46. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Treble Staff. December 14, 2015. Treble. December 15, 2015.
  47. Web site: Top 75 Albums of 2015. Uncut Staff. November 30, 2015. Uncut. December 8, 2015.
  48. Web site: Top 100 Albums of 2015. Under the Radar Staff. December 16, 2015. Under the Radar. December 17, 2015.
  49. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2015. Variance Staff. December 4, 2015. Variance. December 8, 2015.
  50. Web site: No Cities to Love – Sleater-Kinney – Credits – AllMusic. AllMusic. All Media Network. December 17, 2015.
  51. Web site: ARIA Albums: Taylor Swift 1989 Spends 8th Week On Top. Noise11.com. Ryan. Gavin. January 31, 2015. January 31, 2015.
  52. Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2015. Billboard. November 22, 2020.

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