Critically acclaimed punk trio Sleater-Kinney have announced dates for their first tour in support of The Hot Rock (Kill Rock Stars), due out Feb. 23.

The 20-date outing begins with several West Coast concerts in late February and early March, before jumping to the East Coast and concluding in late March with three shows in the Great Lakes region.

The 14-song The Hot Rock, Sleater-Kinney's fourth album, features a gentler

musical attack than the band's much-lauded Dig Me Out (1997) -- which included "One More Hour" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Words and Guitar" (RealAudio excerpt) -- and the bracingly raw Call the Doctor (1996).

"There's a lot of themes of love and struggling through different things," singer/guitarist Corin Tucker said last fall, shortly after the band wrapped recording for The Hot Rock. "[The songs] are also about working really hard in your life to find a sense of gracefulness. And I think this record is more graceful because of it."

The recently reformed Bratmobile, one of the chaotically rudimentary punk bands that helped define the riot grrrl movement in the early 1990s, will open the final three dates of the tour.

Other openers for various dates include progressive punks Unwound, indie rockers Versus, experimentalists Hovercraft, pop-punkers Bangs and indie pop group Flin Flon, featuring former Unrest leader Mark Robinson.

Sleater-Kinney Tour Dates:

Feb. 21; Olympia, Wash., Liquid

Feb. 24; Vancouver, B.C., East Cultural Center

Feb. 25; Bellingham, Wash., Western Washington University Viking Union

Feb. 26; Seattle, Wash., RKCNDY

Feb. 27; Portland, Ore., La Luna

March 3; San Francisco, Calif., Great American Music Hall

March 4; San Francisco, Calif., Great American Music Hall

March 5; Los Angeles, Calif., The Roxy

March 6; Los Angeles, Calif., The Roxy

March 15; Atlanta, Ga., Echo Lounge

March 16; Athens, Ga., 40 Watt Club

March 17; Chapel Hill, N.C., Cat's Cradle

March 18; Washington, D.C., Black Cat

March 19; Philadelphia, Pa., Trocadero

March 20; New York, N.Y., Irving Plaza

March 22; Boston, Mass., Middle East

March 24; Toronto, Ont., Opera House

March 26; Detroit, Mich., Magic Stick

March 27; Chicago, Ill., Metro

March 28; Minneapolis, Minn., First Avenue