Sleater-Kinney are living for today

After a shocking tragedy, the punk band found a new level of intensity in its music

-  LISA TOZZI

I HONESTLY JUST NEEDED to hear Corin sing." Carrie Brownstein was headed into a studio in Los Angeles in autumn 2022 when her friend and longtime Sleater-Kinney bandmate Corin Tucker called to give her the name and number of someone at the US Embassy in Italy. The embassy had been urgently trying to contact Brownstein and her sister for a few days, but neither had current phone numbers attached to their passports, and since Tucker is listed as Brownstein's emergency contact, the embassy got hold of her. Tucker suspected some kind of scam or prank, but just in case it wasn't, she made the call.

Brownstein gave her sister the info and headed in to work. About two hours later, when she took a break, she saw a missed call from her sister. When she phoned back, she received devastating news: their mother and stepfather had been killed in a car crash four days earlier while holidaying in Italy.