There are times to speak, and there are times to listen.

Case in point: yesterday. Martin Luther King Jr. Day felt especially poignant this year, and while it was tempting to put up a post about the gospel songs that inspired King,  staying silent and soaking in others’ perspectives seemed more important and appropriate. Maybe you’ll see a Mahalia Jackson song here on the third Monday of next January.

This Sleater-Kinney album feels similar. I’m enjoying it a great deal, but this is my introduction to the band — it’s a little like the Clair Morgan situation I wrote about recently, minus the past fandom — and I’m only now learning about their origins, their significance to the riot grrrl movement… I’m really starting from scratch. Writing rhapsodically about No Cities to Love would feel wrong, as tempting as it is, especially when I could be spending that time listening to their first run of albums so I know what the hell I’m talking about. (It certainly was nice of them to put an “Abbreviated Beginners Guide” on their Soundcloud page.)

All that’s to say I won’t say much about No Cities to Love, aside from (hopefully) giving the general impression that I think very highly of it. Click here to buy it and stream “Bury Our Friends” below.

Sleater-Kinney — “Bury Our Friends” [Spotify/iTunes]