Sleater-Kinney Detail Dig Me Out Tribute Album, Share Courney Barnett’s “Words And Guitar”

Back in 1997, the great American rock band Sleater-Kinney released Dig Me Out, which might be their best-loved album. (I can’t, in good conscience, say that Dig Me Out is Sleater-Kinney’s masterpiece. That band’s got like five masterpieces.) Earlier this year, the band announced plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Dig Me Out with a new all-star tribute record, with different artists — Wilco, St. Vincent, Low, more — covering the songs from that classic. Today, we get all the details.

The forthcoming compilation is called Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album, and it looks sick as hell. The band has just dropped the tracklist, which answers a lot of questions. Wilco, for instance, are taking on “One More Hour.” Low are doing “Dance Song ’97.” The honor of covering “Little Babies” goes to actual little babies the Linda Lindas, which should be a lot of fun. Married couple Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires are getting together for “Not What You Want.” Sleater-Kinney collaborator St. Vincent is handling the title track. For the tribute-album version of “The Drama You’ve Been Craving,” we’re swapping out Corin Tucker’s unearthly wail for another — that of TV On The Radio leader Tunde Adebimpe.

Along with the tracklist, Sleater-Kinney have also shared Courtney Barnett’s version of “Words And Guitar.” Barnett’s version is certainly a departure from the original, and it’s cool to hear her giving that song a bemused deadpan read. The cover also underlines the thing we’ll have to remember about this tribute. None of these covers are going to be better than the originals; that’s simply not possible. But they might bring out interesting new shades from the originals. Below, check out the Courtney Barnett cover of “Words And Guitar,” the Sleater-Kinney original, and the tracklist for Dig Me In.

TRACKLIST:
01 St. Vincent – “Dig Me Out”
02 Wilco – “One More Hour”
03 Margo Price – “Turn It On”
04 Tunde Adebimpe – “The Drama You’ve Been Craving”
05 Self Esteem – “Heart Factory”
06 Courtney Barnett – “Words And Guitar”
07 Black Belt Eagle Scout – “It’s Enough”
08 The Linda Lindas – “Little Babies”
09 Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires – “Not What You Want”
10 Tyler Cole – “Buy Her Candy”
11 Big Joanie – “Things You Say”
12 Low – “Dance Song ’97”
13 NNAMDÏ – “Jenny”

Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album is out 10/21, and you can pre-order it here.