No Cities to Love

No Cities to Love is the eighth studio album by American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on January 20, 2015, through Sub Pop.[1] It is the first album following a decade-long hiatus and the band's 2005 release, The Woods.[2][3] The album received universal acclaim from music critics and was listed on several "Best Albums of 2015" lists.[4]

No Cities to Love
Studio album by
Sleater-Kinney
ReleasedJanuary 20, 2015
RecordedJanuary, 2014 – February, 2014
Studio
  • Electrokitty Recording (Seattle)
  • Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studios (Portland, Oregon)
  • Tiny Telephone Recordings (San Francisco)
Genre
Length32:17
LabelSub Pop
ProducerJohn Goodmanson
Sleater-Kinney chronology
Start Together
(2014)		 No Cities to Love
(2015)		 The Center Won't Hold
(2019)
Singles from No Cities to Love
  1. "Bury Our Friends"
    Released: October 20, 2014

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. [5][6]

On December 22, 2014, No Cities to Love was accidentally streamed three weeks early by the band's label, Sub Pop.[7] As of January 30, 2015, the album has sold 28,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.[8]

The video for the title track features celebrities singing the song, including Andy Samberg, Vanessa Bayer, Fred Armisen, Sarah Silverman, Norman Reedus, Miranda July, Brie Larson, Natasha Lyonne, Elliot Page, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, and My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way.[9]

Tour

In support of the album, the band toured North America and Europe.[10][11] Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot listed the supporting tour as one of the winter's top rock shows.[12]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.7/10[13]
Metacritic90/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
The A.V. ClubA−[16]
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)A[17]
Entertainment WeeklyA[18]
The Guardian[19]
The Irish Times[20]
NME9/10[21]
Pitchfork8.7/10[22]
Rolling Stone[23]
Spin9/10[24]

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.[14] Los Angeles Times critic Randall Roberts said "the work commands attention",[25] 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".[3] 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."[17] 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."[26] 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."[27] 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".[28] 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".[29]

Accolades
Publication Rank List
AllMusic Best Rock Albums of 2015[30]
American Songwriter 49 Top 50 Albums of 2015[31]
The A.V. Club 2 The 15 Best Albums of 2015[32]
Billboard 14 25 Best Albums of 2015[33]
Clash 7 Top 50 Albums of 2015[34]
Consequence of Sound 8 Top 50 Albums of 2015[35]
Cosmopolitan 9 The 15 Best Albums of 2015[36]
The Daily Beast 1 The Best Albums of 2015[37]
Diffuser 6 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[38]
Drowned in Sound 9 Favourite Albums of 2015[39]
Entertainment Weekly 14 The 40 Best Albums of 2015[40]
Exclaim! 4 Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2015[41]
FasterLouder 4 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[42]
Gigwise 30 Top 55 Albums of 2015[43]
The Guardian 6 The Best Albums of 2015[44]
Loud and Quiet 10 Top 40 Albums of 2015[45]
Magnet 12 Top 25 Albums of 2015[46]
Mashable 21 The 30 Best Albums of 2015[47]
MOJO 14 50 Best Albums of 2015[48]
MusicOMH 2 Top 50 Albums of 2015[49]
Newsweek 17 The Top 20 Albums of 2015[50]
NME 13 NME's Albums of the Year 2015[51]
No Ripcord 7 Top 50 Albums of 2015[52]
Paste 4 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[53]
Pitchfork 27 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[54]
PopMatters 16 The 80 Best Albums of 2015[55]
Pretty Much Amazing 11 Best 50 Albums of 2015[56]
Q 35 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[57]
Reverb 3 The Ten Best Albums of 2015[58]
Rolling Stone 11 50 Best Albums of 2015[59]
Rough Trade 60 Albums of the Year 2015[60]
The Skinny 1 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[61]
Spin 11 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[62]
Sputnikmusic 7 Top 50 Albums of 2015[63]
Stereogum 27 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[64]
Time 9 Top 10 Best Albums of 2015[65]
Time Out London 40 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[66]
Treble 6 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[67]
Uncut 23 Top 75 Albums of 2015[68]
Under the Radar 17 Top 100 Albums of 2015[69]
Variance 32 The 50 Best Albums of 2015[70]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sleater-Kinney

No.TitleLength
1."Price Tag"3:54
2."Fangless"3:34
3."Surface Envy"3:06
4."No Cities to Love"3:05
5."A New Wave"3:38
6."No Anthems"3:19
7."Gimme Love"2:16
8."Bury Our Friends"3:23
9."Hey Darling"2:25
10."Fade"3:37
Total length:32:17
Vinyl Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
11."The Fog and Filthy Air"3:22
12."Heavy (When I Need It)"3:13

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic[71]

Sleater-Kinney
Technical personnel

Charts

References

Notes
  1. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love, Sub Pop, retrieved January 3, 2015
  2. Phillips & Pelly 2014.
  3. Pareles 2014.
  4. "Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love". Album Of The Year. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  5. Goodman 2014.
  6. Sub Pop 2014.
  7. Rettig 2014.
  8. 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.
  9. Payne, Chris (2015-01-15). "How Many Celebrities Can You Pick Out in Sleater-Kinney's 'No Cities to Love' Video?". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  10. Guardian 2014.
  11. Albertson 2014.
  12. Kot 2015.
  13. "No Cities To Love by Sleater-Kinney reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  14. "Reviews for No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney". Metacritic. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  15. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "No Cities to Love – Sleater-Kinney". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  16. 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.
  17. Christgau, Robert (February 13, 2015). "Robert Christgau: Expert Witness". Cuepoint. Retrieved February 15, 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.
  30. AllMusic staff (December 30, 2015). "Best Rock Albums of 2015". AllMusic. Retrieved December 30, 2015. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  31. American Songwriter (November 23, 2015). "American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums Of 2015". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  32. The A.V. Club Staff (December 7, 2015). "The 15 Best Albums of 2015". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  33. Billboard Staff (December 15, 2015). "25 Best Albums of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  34. Clash Staff (December 17, 2015). "Top 50 Albums of 2015". Clash. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  35. CoS Staff (December 2, 2015). "Top 50 Albums of 2015". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  36. Eliza Thompson (December 16, 2015). "The 15 Best Albums of 2015". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  37. Marlow Stern (December 14, 2015). "The Best Albums of 2015". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  38. Diffuser Staff (December 8, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Diffuser. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  39. Sean Adams (December 17, 2015). "Favourite Albums of 2015". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  40. EW Staff (December 9, 2015). "The 40 Best Albums of 2015". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  41. Exclaim! Staff (December 3, 2015). "Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2015". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  42. FasterLouder (December 3, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". FasterLouder. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  43. Gigwise staff (December 19, 2015). "Top 55 Albums of 2015". Gigwise. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  44. The Guardian staff (December 2, 2015). "The Best Albums of 2015". The Guardian. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  45. Loud and Quiet staff (December 11, 2015). "Top 40 Albums of 2015". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  46. Magnet staff. "Top 25 Albums of 2015". Magnet. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  47. Mashable Staff (December 15, 2015). "The 30 Best Albums of 2015". Mashable. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  48. MOJO Staff (November 24, 2015). "50 Best Albums of 2015". MOJO. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  49. MusicOMH Staff (December 17, 2015). "Top 50 Albums of 2015". MusicOMH. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  50. Newsweek Staff (December 10, 2015). "The Top 20 Albums of 2015". Newsweek. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  51. NME Staff (December 2, 2015). "NME's Albums Of The Year 2015". NME. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  52. No Ripcord Staff (December 17, 2015). "Top 50 Albums of 2015". No Ripcord. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  53. Paste Staff (December 2, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Paste. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  54. Pitchfork Staff (December 16, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  55. PopMatters Staff (December 7, 2015). "The 80 Best Albums of 2015". PopMatters. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  56. Pretty Much Amazing Staff (December 18, 2015). "50 Best Albums of 2015". Pretty Much Amazing. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  57. Q Staff (November 25, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Q. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  58. Reverb Staff (December 1, 2015). "The Ten Best Albums of 2015". Reverb. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  59. Rolling Stone Staff (December 1, 2015). "50 Best Albums of 2015". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  60. Rough Trade Staff. "Albums of the Year 2015". Rough Trade. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  61. The Skinny Staff (December 7, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". The Skinny. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  62. SPIN Staff (December 1, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". SPIN. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  63. Sputnik Staff (December 16, 2015). "Top 50 Albums of 2015". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  64. Stereogum Staff (December 1, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". Stereogum. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  65. Time Staff (December 1, 2015). "Top 10 Best Albums". Time. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  66. Time Out London Staff (December 17, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Time Out London. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  67. Treble Staff (December 14, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Treble. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  68. Uncut Staff (November 30, 2015). "Top 75 Albums of 2015". Uncut. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  69. Under the Radar Staff (December 16, 2015). "Top 100 Albums of 2015". Under the Radar. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  70. Variance Staff (December 4, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Variance. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  71. "No Cities to Love - Sleater-Kinney - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  72. Ryan, Gavin (January 31, 2015). "ARIA Albums: Taylor Swift 1989 Spends 8th Week On Top". Noise11.com. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  73. "Ultratop.be – Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  74. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  75. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard.
  76. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  77. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  78. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  79. "Sleater-Kinney Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
  80. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2020.

Sources

Further reading
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