Sleater Kinney Music Group

For most bands, a No. 3 ranking in the prestigious Village Voice poll of the nation's rock critics would be an occasion for champagne toasts. For a band that records for a tiny independent record company, it would be time to field the incoming offers from major labels and get the career on the fast track.

Back when the term "alternative rock" still meant something, living outside the hit-or-bust norms of the pop marketplace was no picnic. This was a music of underdogs from the underground, created by bands that inherited punk rock's spirit of defying the established order, but who were less straitjacketed musically than punk purists.

Back when the term "alternative rock" still meant something, living outside the hit-or-bust norms of the pop marketplace was no picnic. This was a music of underdogs from the underground, created by bands that inherited punk rock's spirit of defying the established order, but who were less straitjacketed musically than punk purists.

For most bands, a No. 3 ranking in the prestigious Village Voice poll of the nation's rock critics would be an occasion for champagne toasts. For a band that records for a tiny independent record company, it would be time to field the incoming offers from major labels and get the career on the fast track.