I saw Sleater-Kinney last night at the Riviera. Sleater-Kinney are my new heroes. I hate to talk about them being an all-female group because it isn't really relevant, but I feel like most all-women bands are either billed as ultra-cute novelties (The All-Girl Summer Fun Band) or ultra-feminist grrrrrl groups (Le Tigre). Sleater-Kinney are just a really good rock band, that just happens to be made up of three women.

S-K put on a pretty great rock show. Janet Weiss is a stellar drummer, and Carrie Brownstein seemed to be having the most fun on stage with her crazy guitar solos and flailing leg kicks. Corin Tucker was cute, if not a bit timid on stage- her voice is so big and wailing that it doesn't seem like it's actually coming from her mouth. Their set list was completely predictable, but exactly what I'd been hoping for all the same- kicking off with "The Fox," the first song from the new album The Woods, then running through virtually the entire album, sprinkling in a few songs from 2003's One Beat as well. I don't usually find myself looking forward to long guitar solos, either, but I couldn't wait to see the 11-minute solo in "Let's Call It Love" take place on stage, and Carrie definitely ran with it. Finally, after wrapping up with "Entertain," the new album's single, they came back out for the expected retrospective of older material, most of which I'm not familiar with since I only have One Beat and The Woods.

Continuing in my streak of recommending rock albums, I've put up The Woods in the recommended section. It's without a doubt one of the best albums of the year so far. If last year was my year to explore weird folk and electronic, this has so far been my year to rediscover real rock.