No Cities to Love was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an
average score of 90, based on 39 reviews.
Los Angeles Times critic Randall Roberts said "the work commands attention", while
Jon Pareles from
The New York Times said it was "the first great album of 2015", full of "hurtling, bristling, densely packed, white-knuckled songs that are all taut construction and raw nerve".
Robert Christgau gave the record an "A" and felt it may be Sleater-Kinney's best record, while writing in
Cuepoint: "Honed back down to punky three-minute songs because the leisure to stretch out is a luxury they can't presently afford, the music carries the seed of tumult to come, the sense that something or everything could explode without notice just the way this album did." In
The Observer,
Kitty Empire said the band had executed "pretty much the most perfect comeback of recent years" and sounded "exactly as taut and emotive as they used to." Writing with high praise for
Exclaim!, Chris Bilton called the record "a thoroughly raging collection of post-punk anthems that nudges up the powerful perfection of 2005's
The Woods at least another notch." Music journalist
Graham Reid said it had "all the stabbing energy of
Gang of Four, the blazing passion of
Siouxsie Sioux and the drama of
Hole at their (rare) best". In an interview for
Rolling Stone, musician
St. Vincent said it was her favorite Sleater-Kinney record so far and "a crowning jewel in their legacy".
Accolades ==Track listing==