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Rating: THE REVIEW
It's 1999 when Kathleen Hanna, leader of Bikini Kill, the most important riot grrrl formation, the banner of the new feminist punk of the 90s, the one of "revolution girl style now!", puts together a band again after the solo experience of Julie Ruin. The band will be called Le Tigre and their music will definitely resemble Madonna during the era of Borderline more than the Sex Pistols. Kathleen Hanna, accompanied by Johanna Fateman (fanzine writer) and Sadie Benning, video artist, creates a trio where roles no longer exist: the girls take turns exchanging sampler, guitar, and drum machine, although it's always Kathleen who sings. With this formation, they record the first self-titled album for Mr. Lady, and they are among the first bands to do something that is defined as electroclash. A mix of electro, early hip hop, analog electronics, punk, new wave, and very, very pop. The melodic fabric of the pieces did not surprise me much: already some of Bikini Kill's tracks, as punk and raw as they might be, and with lyrics definitely very indigestible (at least for the boys: "White boy/don't love/don't cry/just die!!") had a truly marked pop inclination. So marked, that when I met Kathleen Hanna and told her that for me she was 1) the woman who saved the lives of the girls of my generation by making them aware of their role in the world 2) a pop genius, Kat smiled, I don't know if embarrassed or surprised, and said to me, "ah, really?".
But of course, I was right! Listen to how beautiful the melodies of "Eau d' bedroom dancing" or "Friendship station" are to understand. Just to remove any doubt, this record is a pure and raw DIY product, so no wimpy arrangements, but big 80s keyboards, drum machines, and distorted guitars, all very lo-fi. A simple, yet effective, explosive, punk, and very modern sound, so much so that it makes most of the contemporary works seem outdated. The opening song, "Deceptacon" is an anthem by definition, where the torn stockings and harsh words of the riot grrrl gave way to colorful dresses and sharp irony...in short, we are still angry, but this time we also want to have fun and dance. Beautiful also is "The the empty" electronic punk n' roll, and "Hot topic" a groovey track where all the important artists for a gurl are mentioned, from Joan Jett to Carol Rama. The album is completed by a beautiful garage beat track, in which the mayor Giuliani is spoken very badly of ("My my metrocard"), intense pop-punk ("Let's run") and some wave reminiscences ("Phanta"). The record concludes with "Les and Ray" an intimate ballad, in which Kathleen Hanna goes back to her childhood, remembering her neighbors, Les and Ray who played the piano, and back then music seemed the only thing that took her away from the sad reality she lived in. Sincere words from an artist who truly loves music and has not yet tired of experimenting and fighting so that girls have the courage to become the revolutionary force that the world needs.
Revolution grrrl style, again!
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Summary by Bot
Le Tigre's self-titled debut album, formed by Kathleen Hanna post-Bikini Kill, combines electroclash with punk and pop influences. The album is raw, DIY, and energetic, featuring feminist lyrics and catchy melodies. Tracks like "Deceptacon" and "Hot Topic" stand out for their sharp irony and danceable beats. The review praises the band's modern sound and Hanna’s ongoing revolutionary spirit.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
02 Hot Topic (03:44)
hot topic is the way that we rhyme
hot topic is the way that we rhyme
one step behind the drum style
one step behind the drum style
Carol Rama and Elanor Antin
Yoko Ono and Carolee Schneeman
You're getting old, that's what they'll say, but
Don't give a damn I'm listening anyway
Stop, don't you stop
I can't live if you stop
Don't you stop
Gretchen Phillips and Cibo Matto
Leslie Feinburg and Faith Ringgold
Mr. Lady, Laura Cottingham
Mab Segrest and The Butchies, man
Don't stop
Don't you stop
We won't stop
Don't you stop
So many roads and so much opinion
So much shit to give in, give in to
So many rules and so much opinion
So much bullshit but we won't give in
Stop, we won't stop
Don't you stop
I can't live if you stop
Tammy Rae Carland and Sleater-Kinney
Vivienne Dick and Lorraine O'Grady
Gayatri Spivak and Angela Davis
Laurie Weeks and Dorothy Allison
Stop, don't you stop
Please don't stop
We won't stop
Gertrude Stein, Marlon Riggs, Billie Jean King, Ut, DJ Cuttin Candy, David Wojnarowicz, Melissa York, Nina Simone, Ann Peebles, Tammy Hart, The Slits, Hanin Elias, Hazel Dickens, Cathy Sissler, Shirley Muldowney, Urvashi vaid, Valie Export, Cathy Opie, James Baldwin, Diane Dimassa, Aretha Franklin, Joan Jett, Mia X, Krystal Wakem, Kara Walker, Justin Bond, Bridget Irish, Juliana Lueking, Cecelia Dougherty, Ariel Skrag, The Need, Vaginal Creme Davis, Alice Gerard, Billy Tipton, Julie Doucet, Yayoi Kusama, Eileen Myles
Oh no no no don't stop stop............
04 The The Empty (02:04)
The stars are getting in and out of automobiles
And we keep wondering when we're gonna feel something real
Keep waiting for a Santa that will never come
A real party not just people who're faking fun
But everything gets erased before it's even said
And all that glitters isn't gold when inside it's dead
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
I went to your concert and I didn't feel anything
I went to your concert and I didn't hear anything
I went to your concert and I didn't feel anything
I went to your concert and I didn't see anything
(Oh Baby) Why won't you talk to me?
(Oh Baby) You just want me empty!
(Oh Baby) You don't say anything!
(Oh Baby) Why won't you answer me?
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
All that glitter is not gold
I sat through your movie but I didn't see anything.
I went to your comedy club and didn't laugh at all.
I went to your movie and I didn't hear anything.
I went to your concert and there was nothing going on.
You don't say
You don't say
You don't say anything.......
05 Phanta (03:14)
(One the morning of June 14, 1968
A group of hippies fled into the mountains of Colorado to wait for doomsday)
4 months + 8 days
Been waiting here
Transporter broken
Horizon's clear
(DAY ONE)
No vegetation
Blips on my screen
Whatever was here
Has been disappeared
Now here's alright (x2)
Alright
(DAY TWO)
Wait tower
Radar's going off
I see a small creature
Who can barely walk
My data says "large"
But what I see is small
Text reads "Big Danger"
This just looks tired
Now here's alright (x2)
Alright, alright
(DAY THREE)
Come in tower
All our data's wrong
Research inconsistent
We misread it all
There was no monster
And what's left is near dead
Control killed a phantom
From inside their heads
(Come in, come in
You've lost my screen
Do you respond?
Variable text field is frozen
Look at your monitors
Dont take your eyes off the monitor
We're losing you
Subterra outpost, stay calm
We're losing you
You're going-)
Now here's alright
Nowhere's alright
Alright, alright, alright,al-
06 Eau d'Bedroom Dancing (02:55)
I'm in the sky when I'm on the floor
The world's a mess and yr my only cure
There's no time for me to act mature
The only words I know are "more, more" and "more"
No one to criticize me then
No one to criticize
No one to criticize me then
No one to criticize
There's no fear when I'm in my room
It's so clear and I know just what I want to do
All day bedroom dancing
To you I wanna say
Yr my thing.
08 My My Metrocard (02:54)
Off the pillow and into the air
I'm ready cause it's my day
Situation: it's all possible
Everything is going my way
My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
Think I'll go a little but then I go far
Oh fuck
Giuliani
He's such
A fucking jerk
Shut down
All the stripbars
Workfare
Does not work
My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
My My Metrocard
Think I'll go a little but then I go far
Next stop
Atlantic Avenue
Next stop
Christopher Street
Next stop
Transfer to the
Next stop
A,C, or E
09 Friendship Station (03:07)
The phone keeps ringing and it just won't stop
There's a paper napkin in my coffeepot
People freaking out on me left and right
My head feels heavy but my feet feel light
The clock keeps ticking inside my head
Bad news is all I ever get
The check I've been waiting for is not on time
Everyone around me wants to start another fight
I'm gonna let it be alright
I wanna be there!
I wanna take you there!
I wanna be there!
I wanna take you there!
10 Slideshow at Free University (02:48)
We favor the simple expression of the complex thought.
We are for the large shape, because it has the impact of the unequivocal.
We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.
The artist was attempting to make art more than something to just look at,
they wanted it something to be involved in, something too big to ignore.
It is our function as artists to make the spectator to see the world our way, not his way.
Le Tigre
Formed by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning, Le Tigre blended punk and electronic music with overt feminist politics. Their self-titled debut was released in 1999 on Mr. Lady.01 Reviews
