LIVE ALBUMS are very much a seventies phenomenon, the closest many fans could get to being at a show from a time when most bands would not darken the door of venues outside (a few ) capital cities.
Come the 1980s and live albums began to reduce in number, while these days, with greater than ever opportunities to see acts and live shows broadcast on TV and various internet platforms, there is little need for the live album - and yet, the form stubbornly persists.
Perhaps in reaction to the, at times, overwhelming array of visual imagery that is part and parcel of online consumption generally, a live recording is a chance to let the ears do the work, and the mind create the visuals - a chance to do some relatively unmediated thinking for yourself? Given Sleater-Kinney's Riot Grrrl inheritance and feminist position, that just may be the point.
Either way, this captures the band in front of a lively and appreciative Parisian crowd, with the band concentrating heavily on more recent material - four songs alone from 2015's acclaimed comeback No Cities To Love - itself a statement that Sleater-Kinney are a going concern, not a heritage act. The performance is lively, enthusiastic, and reminds us that Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein know a thing or two about matching good guitar riffs and with alt.pop smarts.
More an album for the die-hards and completists, but for SK fans, a good night out in Paris for the mind.
