Record Rack

The three women from Olympia, Wash., have sure resisted any temptation to expand the pop playfulness that crept into their last album, “Dig Me Out.” Brittle, demanding and severe, “The Hot Rock” (due Tuesday) is true to Sleater-Kinney’s roots in the short-lived but influential Riot Grrrl movement--particularly its indifference to trends and its resistance to marketability.

That might foster integrity, but it doesn’t guarantee great art, and the trio does sometimes fall prey to a clinical coldness and remoteness. Even if those are the themes being dissected, a little more musical and lyrical openness wouldn’t be out of line.

They demonstrate that when they take full advantage of their impressive strengths--notably Corin Tucker’s spine-chilling siren of a voice and a mastery of vocal interplay, with Tucker and Carrie Brownstein executing intricate, overlapping dialogues that give the romantic scenarios unusual depth and detail.

There is some explosive, straight-ahead rock release, but primarily Sleater-Kinney’s guitar lines and vocal melodies twine into tight knots, creating a musical topography studded with knobby patterns--an austere environment where every feature seems to signal an emotional impasse.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.