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Rating: When I hear about L7, I instantly think of "Bricks Are Heavy," unanimously regarded as the best album ever by the Los Angeles quartet. "Pretend We're Dead" is a heavy burden, and matching the success of the album from which it is drawn is no simple task. Therefore, "Hungry For Stink", the direct successor to "Bricks Are Heavy," will always and unjustly remain in the background, classifying as L7's most underrated work.
While staying faithfully anchored to the band's heavy sound, "Hungry For Stink" offers new sounds and new musical grips, forging an original style compared to their foxcore colleagues (and slightly departing from the Plasmatics/Runaways model). The (arduous) task of opening the album is entrusted to "Andres": it kicks off immediately with a grim and powerful riff, introducing the deep and almost masculine vocals of Donita Sparks. The girls do not lose sight of the punk/metal mold that has always distinguished them. Nevertheless, "Andres" ranks among the peaks of their production and is worthy of the masterpiece "Bricks Are Heavy".
"Baggage" is the second track, a grunge that repeatedly winks at metal, mainly in the guitar riffs. The vocal style is among the most visceral adopted in foxcore (alongside Courtney Love's early work with Hole and the more capable Kat Bjelland).
In "Can I Run", we return to the atmosphere of "Bricks Are Heavy," and more precisely to that of the classic "Pretend We're Dead," to which it is similar for its irresistible melodies and certain guitar attitudes. L7 fused a definitive personal sound, hardly imitable by the riot grrrls who would follow them.
"The Bomb" is the angriest, thus referring to the band's first self-titled album, also for some vocal and guitar tensions. On a superficial listen, it might seem punk, but it's not fast enough, so it can be better defined as a fine grunge/metal for certain melodic aspects. In short, a decidedly tense piece that quite involves for the tribal rhythms of the drums. One of the few boring points of the album is represented by "Questioning My Sanity", which seems to me an outtake from the aforementioned debut. However, Sparks and Gardner's guitar work is infinitely more mature than the style of "L7" and is executed masterfully.
Interesting experimentalism is noted in the punk of "Riding With A Movie Star", as evidenced by the use of keyboards and the "Egyptian" guitar solo, without losing sight of the grunge component. The piece is decidedly cosmopolitan, especially due to the use of African percussion and the general atmosphere that vaguely recalls "Walk Like An Egyptian" by the Bangles (devoid, naturally, of a certain heavy attitude).
"Stuck Here Again" is a track with a blues-like feel, softer tones compared to the rest of the album, and reveals itself to be a particularly relaxed (so to speak) and different moment on the sonic level. The lyrics, however, feature seemingly nonsensical wordplays (I'm good at feeling bad/ I'm even better at feeling worse), conveying a sense of loneliness-boredom-pain.
The best episode of the album in my opinion is "Fuel My Fire", composed by Donita Sparks with the collaboration of the Cosmic Psychos, a rock group active since the Eighties that greatly influenced Seattle grunge artists, especially Mudhoney and Pearl Jam. If it weren't sung by a woman, "Fuel My Fire" could actually be easily mistaken for any Mudhoney track (with all due respect to Mark Arm and his associates!), perhaps the only flaw is indeed that it feels familiar.
Rhythm and lead guitar intertwine perfectly in "Freak Magnet", creating unforgettable riffs and solos. Sparks' vocal fury is uncontainable, Scaruffi compares it to that of Hope Nicholls of Fetchin Bones, an ante-litteram riot grrrl with a stratospheric voice; I feel this comparison is very fitting. "She Has Eyes" and "Shirley" flow pleasantly: the former, like all of Jennifer Finch's compositions, is the most pop moment, owing to the soft and never harsh singing, unlike the outbursts of Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, yet it remains above average; the latter is a powerful hard rock in pure L7 style, with vocals as sharp as blades and essential, hammering drums.
An additional proof of the effective value of "Hungry For Stink" is "Talk Box", a real journey through noise and psychedelia, all guided by Sparks' dreamlike voice and a tortured solo. More than one critic found the influence of Grace Slick, a statement I do not fully agree with. The track remains, however, a magnificently melancholic and latently angry conclusion.
I would be tempted to give this album five stars, but "Bricks Are Heavy" continues to pulse in my head: it's hard to forget.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Andres (03:03)
Down in North Hollywood
There's a guy with long hair
He's really, really nice
But we had a problem
Andres
I'm sorry
The key is stuck in the lock
And we need some A/C
It's burning up in here
We've got something to tell you
Andres
I'm sorry
Andres
I'm sorry
Down in north hollywood
Know a guy with long hair
He's really really nice
But we had a problem
Andres
I'm sorry
Andres
I'm sorry
Andres...
04 The Bomb (02:39)
Plastic people with their plastic lives
Plastic lips tell plastic lies
Plastic drivers in plastic cars
Plastic food from plastic jars
Frustration is the fuse
The flame is hate
Tick tick tick
Detonate
She's the bomb
Plastic models in plastic magazines
Plastic kings and plastic queens
All are seen on plastic TVs
Prayed to by people on bended plastic knees
What you think, well that's good too
But not as much as what they do
This fuse burns slow
Waiting to blow
The world is a heavy load
Watch it explode
Lawmakers with plastic policies
Put plastic locks on their cities
In hopes to keep them quiet
Well go off
Well blow up
08 Fuel My Fire (03:46)
I've got a word of thanks
Thanks that i'd like to say
For the rage that i feel
For the rage that i feel today
Gotta stack gotta stack
Stack of chips on my shoulder
In everything i do
Cause i made i made i made
The mistake, the mistake of trusting you
People like you just fuel my fire
People like you just fuel, yeah
My layers are thick
And i got a bad attitude
Yeah that knife in my back
Has fingerprints that belong to you
Gotta grudge gotta grudge gotta grudge
That i'm holding for you
As long as i live
'Cause you lied you lied you lied
And that's something that i can't forgive
You liar
People like you just fuel my fire
People like you just fuel, yeah
09 Freak Magnet (03:14)
Liars, losers, coming at me
What i need is sanctuary
Minding my own business
Getting in my face
Violating my personal space
Freak magnet
Jerk appeal
Something about you
Is so not right
Nightmare, nightmare
In the daylight
Asking for my number
You wanna give me a call
But i've got your message
Written on the wall
Freak magnet
Jerk appeal
Always bugging me
Why don't you get a clue
'Cause i don't want to
Talk to you
I know that look in your eye
I've seen it before
I've given you all of my change
But you want something more
Freak magnet
Jerk appeal
10 She Has Eyes (03:16)
I am sick of her attacks
Can't help but i've fallen back
I believe in what she says
I rent space in her head
She has eyes made for crying
When she can't lie to get approved
Lost time and far removed
Can't afford to keep it used
I'm getting ready to lose
She has eyes made for crying
When she hits those hits are so hard
Weeping is her first playing card
And i believe she believes
In what she says
This is my last time in her head
11 Shirley (03:09)
Welcome the first lady to try and qualify in an NHRA-dragster competition ~ Shirley Muldowney!
Feels so real
Crushing the steering wheel
How many times
Must we toe this line
Halting me
Is a fantasy
Cha-cha! call her cha-cha!
What's drag racing coming to?
How many times must you be told
There's nowhere that we don't go
she's got good traction!
I suggest you find a seat in the grandstands, Because you don't want to miss this!
She's just here wants
What she wants to do
I wonder if Shirley's got in her to hold that throttle down
kills your joke
as she's burning smoke
Shirley Muldowney is pulling ahead... and she Takes the red light
And you will find
Crossing the finish line
Shirley Muldowney has just set a new track record!
Satisfaction!
How much times must you be told
There's nowhere that we don't go
She's got good traction!
What's a beautiful girl like you doing racing in a place like this?
Winning.
Winning. winning. winning. winning.
The lady got through it
Winning.
What's drag racing coming to?
There's nowhere that we don't go
What's a beautiful girl like you doing racing in a place like this?
Winning.
Winning. winning. winning. winning.
12 Talk Box (06:16)
Last night i had a dream
It scared the shit out of me
'Cause you were dying
Yeah you were dying
And everyone was around
And you were on the ground
And everyone was around
Dying, you were dying
Last night i had a dream
It scared the shit out of me
'Cause you were dying
Yeah you were dying
And you were all alone you were all alone
You were by a phone
But you were all alone
Last night i had a dream
It scared the shit out of me
'Cause you were dying
Yeah you were dying
And your friends were there
And all your friends were there
In their underwear
And all your friends were there
And you were dying
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