10 Amazing Albums (That Are Under 30 Minutes)

By now, Sleater-Kinney are one of the most venerated and respected acts of the ‘90s indie rock scene, but they started their career off with a release that didn’t suggest any such respectability. Their self titled debut is all scuzzy, cutting guitar lines, and sneered, combative vocal turns from Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein.

The two songwriters take characterful and distinctive approaches to their performances. Brownstein is cool, calm, and collected on standout “How To Play Dead”, a world weary turn from a young woman who’s already seen plenty of nonsense. It’s an insistent track whose riffs and melody play over one another with no room to breathe.

Tucker, meanwhile, has a voice which throws back more to British punk of the early ‘80s. On Be Yr Mama she reaches the top of her range, her aggressive warble brilliantly complimenting the low dirge of the guitars.

Sleater-Kinney would eventually expand their musical ambition, but here they give themselves 22 minutes and change to stake their case and they do so expertly on a dramatic and forceful debut.