Sleater-Kinney's third album and breakthrough, Dig Me Out, turns 25 today (4/8), and to celebrate they've announced a new album of other artists covering its songs. They've put together quite an exciting list of participating artists, including Courtney Barnett, St. Vincent, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, The Linda Lindas, Margo Price, Low, Tunde Adebimpe, Wilco, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Big Joanie, Self Esteem, and Tyler Cole, with more still to be announced. Who's covering what song hasn't been revealed yet, either; stay tuned for more on that.
The album is due out this summer, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to SMYRC, Sleater-Kinney's local LGBTQIA+ Youth Center.
We wrote about Dig Me Out on our list of 23 great punk albums from 1997:
Dig Me Out was the third album by feminist indie-punk heroes Sleater-Kinney and first with their beloved drummer Janet Weiss (who recently left the band after 20+ years), and it was a significant breakthrough for the band and it's still one of their best records today. Too tuneful to really be riot grrrl and too riotous to really be indie rock, Dig Me Out wasn't easy to pigeonhole but it was very easy to like, thanks to its mix of off-kilter riffage, punchy hooks, and powerful lyricism. Sleater-Kinney were always more profound and cooler to like than a lot of the skate/pop punk happening a few thousand miles south of this Olympia, WA band's hometown, but today their influence has showed up in a lot of the same places as those bands. When you look at today's punk, pop punk, and indie rock bands, it's not unusual at all to hear music that sounds influenced by S-K and blink-182. It's impossible to talk about 1997 punk without this crucial album, and in a just world, S-K would've been dominating MTV too.
Stay tuned for more on the tribute LP and stream the classic album here:
