POP/ROCK

Sleater-Kinney, "Path of Wellness" (Mom+Pop)

Do bands owe it to their fans to stick to what first won them an audience, rather than changing with the times? Of course not. Such are the issues and anxieties that Sleater-Kinney fans have struggled with since drummer Janet Weiss left the riot-grrrl band after 2019's "The Center Won't Hold." Singers/guitarists Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein carried on with a tour for the keyboard-heavy "Center," leaving loyalists dismayed at the loss of the mighty drummer and the breakup of a feminist sisterhood.

Now, Tucker and Brownstein are back with their first album as a duo. In some ways, the first self-produced Sleater-Kinney album feels like a concession: It's much more guitar-oriented, angling toward classic rock.

Don't expect "Path" to hit with the force of urgent early work like 1999's "Dig Me Out." And that's OK: Weiss' powerhouse propulsion is missing, and songs like the catchy "Favorite Neighbor" and sorrowful closer "Bring Mercy" don't ring out with rebellious rage.

But the album does showcase a pair of simpatico creative partners, striving to evolve after a quarter-century together. Although there are missteps, like the labored "Complex Female Characters," "Path" has ample rewards as it seeks a balance between soul-soothing calm and heading off to the races. Sleater-Kinney still can kick up a storm, albeit not as violent those in their glory days.

dan deluca, Philadelphia Inquirer

HIP-Hop

Tyler, the Creator, "Lumberjack" (Columbia)

This single is a return to croaky bragging for Tyler over a beat that heavily samples "2 Cups of Blood," from the gothically gloomy debut by the Gravediggaz. Tyler's boasts take the gleaming aesthete excess Pharrell once celebrated and gives it a tart edge. It's a posture he's earned: "That's my nuance, used to be the weirdo / Used to laugh at me, listen to me with their ears closed / Used to treat me like that boy Malcolm in the Middle / Now I'm zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero."

Jon caramanica, New York Times

New Releases

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• Lucy Dacus, "Home Video"

• Tyler, the Creator, "Call Me If You Get Lost"

• Modest Mouse, "Golden Casket"