Consistently listed as one of the best Riot Grrl albums, Dig Me Out is my favorite Sleater-Kinney album. It has been a fan favorite since its release in 1997.
Having just seen Sleater-Kinney for the second time this year on May 8th, I was inspired to write about Dig Me Out while subbing for Sara’s Record Machine column. The album features the debut of current S-K drummer, Janet Weiss, who quickly made herself integral to Carrie and Corin’s musical masterpiece. It’s telling while they had different drummers on their first two records, Janet has now drummed on every album since. Dig Me Out marked their label debut with Kill Rock Stars who put out three S-K albums.
Not only is it a fan favorite, but Rolling Stone ranked Dig Me Out at 272 of their 500 greatest albums of all time. It also made the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book.
The title track was never officially released as a single, but KEXP constantly played it. It has a habit of being one of the encore songs at almost every show. There isn’t much difference in how they played in 1997 and how they played it at the Spokane show I was at.
In one more hour
I will be gone
In one more hour
I’ll leave this room
The dress you wore
The pretty shoes
Are the things I left
Behind for you
My favorite S-K song and the second song on the album, “One More Hour” is a breakup song. Corin wrote it about her and Carrie breaking up. The fact that it has become one of the most played and beloved songs says how much it resonates with queer women. It is one of the few times that they acknowledged they had dated previously. It was a short relationship and obviously hadn’t affected their working relationship.
Don’t say another word
About the other girl
My wife has grown fond of “Little Babies” for its catchy sing-along.
dum dum dee dee dum dum dee dum do
all the little babies go oh oh I want to
dum dum dee dee dum dum dee dum yeah
rock the little babies with one two three four
“Words and Guitar” seems to be a favorite of fans, but I am not such a big fan of it. I find it just doesn’t grab me, though you bet your ass I do sing along at the shows when they play it.
I want it all, I want it all, I want it
(can’t take this away from me
music is the air I breathe
can’t take this away from me)
Words & guitar
The most underrated song on the album is “Jenny,” which I mentioned in my countdown of Sleater-Kinney songs back in October.
I am the girl
I am the ghost
I am the wife
I am the oneDo you wanna forget
Live in the dark
Was she just too close
To everything
Dig Me Out
Side A
- Dig Me Out
- One More Hour
- Turn It On
- The Drama You’ve Been Craving
- Heart Factory
- Words and Guitar
- It’s Enough
Side B
- Little Babies
- Not What You Want
- Buy Her Candy
- Things You Say
- Dance Song ’97
- Jenny
I haven’t opened my copy yet to actually play it because I am a weirdo. My copy is part of the Start Together box set that marked Sleater-Kinney’s triumphant return to the rock world. It is on clear and blue vinyl apparently according to Discogs. It is probably one of the top three best albums of the ’90s and definitely the best album by an all-woman rock band.
