From Hanif Abdurraqib's article about the band Sleater-Kinney: "The Center Won't Hold" found a band trying newness, shifting from one template to the next throughout the album but not sounding fully comfortable in any of them. It would be easy for a longtime fan to feel disappointment. But I eventually set aside nostalgia to allow myself gratitude and admiration - not entirely for the music itself but for the aims of the band in this new era.
He says the same thing in a different way with the following statement:
I'm thankful for a band willing to turn corners, even as I'm heartbroken about a member of that band being left behind.
The back half of the title track, with all its sonic ferocity, is an exception to the otherwise glossy quality of the songs.
As gifted as Sleater-Kinney have shown themselves to be as lyricists, a secondary excitement comes when those lyrics are honed to a fine point.
Through their 25 years and 10 albums, Sleater-Kinney have proved adept at a wide array of moves: volume and tone modulation, lyrics that balance playful cynicism with biting reality.