Sleater-Kinney’s first album since 1997 without drummer Janet Weiss, Path of Wellness finds the band establishing a new, solid baseline for their sound. After 2019’s sleek, synth-rock-influenced The Center Won’t Hold proved to be polarizing even among members of the band, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker stay on the safer side for most of their 10th album, somewhere between the classic rock-inspired sound of 2005’s acclaimed The Woods and the muted, spiritual tone of 1998’s low-key gem The Hot Rock.
While Weiss’s departure is very much felt on Path of Wellness, all of the band’s other signature elements continue to take center stage: Brownstein and Tucker trade knotty, complementary riffs that ring loudly and powerfully throughout, and they take turns on the mic, Tucker’s visceral howl matching Brownstein’s warbling yell. Lyrically, they remain pointed and clever, offering memorably slimy narrators like the one on “Complex Female Characters” and emotional laments such as “Down the Line” and “Bring Mercy.”
The album’s early singles “High in the Grass” and “Worry with You” both play off of Sleater-Kinney’s strengths, the former showing off the ever-expanding reach of Tucker’s voice and the latter sporting one of the band’s sneakily catchy hooks. On the other hand, songs like the dour “Tomorrow’s Grave” fail to push the group beyond their previously established template. After 10 albums and nearly three decades as a band, it’s difficult to fault Sleater-Kinney for turning in something that’s a little too by-the-numbers, but the album is a missed opportunity for Brownstein and Tucker to take their sound in even more uncharted territory.
Of course, it’s not as if Sleater-Kinney has lost their ability to dazzle or surprise. The opening title track kick-starts the album on a deep, fuzzy groove, with Brownstein and Tucker singing together on top of a jittery beat and retro keyboards. When Tucker repeatedly sings, “I feel like I’m unknown,” her voice just a little laidback, her effective restraint against Brownstein’s sparkling riffs is remarkable. During moments like these, the duo works perfectly in sync, their songs sounding like the tightly coiled, well-oiled miracles of Sleater-Kinney at their peak.
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