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Northwest Indie Rock Fans Rejoice: Sleater-Kinney Returns To Stage

Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein and vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker.
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Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein and vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker.

Sleater-Kinney, a band that helped define the Northwest's indie rock scene begins a much-anticipated tour this weekend, starting in Spokane on Sunday, then moving on to Boise on Monday.

The band is officially ending a nearly decade-long hiatus.

Sleater-Kinney formed in Olympia in 1994 and later moved to Portland. Music historian Gillian Gaar said like Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney was a trio that knew how to make indie rock catchy, even maintstream.

“But they decided not to go the major label route,” she said. “They just wanted to chart their own course.”

Sleater-Kinney was a critic favorite with a devoted following when they took a break in 2006. Since then, singer and guitarist Carrie Brownstein co-created the sketchy comedy show Portlandia.

Now, Sleater-Kinney is back with a new album “No Cities to Love.”

“And it’s funny when you listen to it, 10 years have gone by but they don’t sound any different,” Gaar said.

The final U.S. stops on Sleater-Kinney's four-month tour are in Portland and Seattle. They're already sold out.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.