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Archive for the ‘Riot Grrrl’ Category

Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky–Sex Criminals: Volume One: One Weird Trick (2014)

Posted in Barton Fink, Chip Zdarsky, Cocteau Twins, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Joanna Gruesome, Joanna Newsom, Masturbation, Matt Fraction, My Bloody Valentine, Ongoing, Riot Grrrl, Sex, Supernatural, The Cure on October 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

criminalsSOUNDTRACK: JOANNA GRUESOME-Weird Sister (2013).

joanna  I love this short rocking record from this Welsh band whose name is presumably a pun on harpist Joanna Newsome (a fairly obscure joke, no doubt).  In fact I really can’t stop listening to their blend of smooth noise and pretty/screamy vocals .  Lead singer Alanna McArdle has several distinct styles of singing, from pretty and sweet to screamed and scary.  She’s accompanied by a stellar lineup of guys who can do punk and a lot more: drummer Dave Gruesome and  guitarists George and Owen Gruesome (also vocals).

The album reminds me of My Bloody Valentine with splash of riot grrl and occasional old school punk thrown in.  There are elements of pure MBV shoegaze (and even of MBV noisy distortion), but without the meticulous layering that Kevin Shields spent years of his life mastering–this album feels largely spontaneous..

“Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers” opens with a descending guitar riff, switches to some shoegazey type verses and then jumps into some loud screamed choruses, before starting the whole thing over again.  I love the dissonance at the beginning of “Sugarcrush” and how it morphs into a strangely catchy song midway through. And then it shifts back into raw dissonance.  I also get a sense of Cocteau Twins in the vocals on “Madison” (and other songs).  The opening riff is pure dissonance but the verse is just bliss (the “head on the door line of course makes me think of The Cure even though they don’t sound like them at all).

“Wussy Void” slows things down with some actual individual notes and audible lyrics (I’m told the lyrics are very feminist, but I honestly can’t hear too many of them–which isn’t really a shame because her voice is perfect for this band and just knowing that she’s singing about meaningful things is enough of a bonus.

“Lemonade Grrl” starts shoegazey but quickly speeds up with some pummeling drums behind her delicate voice.  “Secret Surprise” is probably the “prettiest” song of the bunch–the dissonance is at a minimum, and yet it is still noisy and punky.  “Do You Really Wanna Know Why Yr Still in Love With Me?” is the sweetest song on the album, with a pleasant guitar riff and a catchy and understandable chorus–until the raging blast of punk at the end.

At 4 minutes, “Candy” is the longest song on the disc.  It slows things down and has a fairly conventional structure.  “Graveyard” starts as a punk blast but gets softer for the chorus.  And the album closer “Satan” belies its name and the album by opening delicately and having the first notices of a large bass sound and then after 2 minutes it abruptly ends.

I really love this record (all 28 minutes of it).  And I can’t wait for more.  I just found out that they have a few singles and E.P.s streaming on their bandcamp site.  Most of these recordings are earlier, rawer version of songs on the album.

[READ: October 19, 2014] Sex Criminals

This intriguingly titled comic is intended for mature readers (as you might expect).  But before we get to the criminal aspect of the story, we’ll back up to meet the characters.

First there is Suzie.  Her mostly amusing story begins with a pretty awful tragedy. A man killed Suzie’s father when she was a little girl (the story promises that things will get funnier as we learn her story). This all ties into the big banks that she rails against later, but I’m not exactly sure that this back story is even necessary (yet).

But this incident makes young Suzie delve deeper into herself.  And when she discovers what kind of pleasure can be had by herself she discovers something…peculiar.  It seems that whenever she climaxes she enters into what she calls The Quiet.  In a nutshell, everything around her stops, but she is able to move–this later led to some fairly awkward moments with guys.  She tried to talk to girls at school about this–of course they looked at her like she was crazy. Although one girl proceeds to show her about a dozen sex positions (by drawing them on the bathroom wall–this may be the funniest thing in the whole book as they are so outrageous yet so cartoony, and I’ve not heard of half of them).

She tries talking to her doctor–he basically tells her that her husband will help her when she’s older.  And then she tries her mother who is still grieving about Suzie’s dad.  So, three strikes, she’s out.

So, how does a plot develop out of this? (more…)

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Miranda July–“TV” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Bikini Kill, Essays, Funny (ha ha), History, Humiliation, LGBTQ, New Yorker, Riot Grrrl, Romance, Sex on September 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: BIKINI KILL-Revolution Girl Style Now (1991).

rvolBikini Kill was one of the most memorable bands from the Riot Grrrl movement.  And frankly, twenty years on, these song still sound incendiary–no one has picked up the torch that bands like this lit in the 90s.

Bikini Kill were confrontational–Kathleen Hannah took no shit, and sang however she felt–sometimes screaming, sometime howling, sometimes singing right on key.   But the most important thing about Bikini Kill was their lyrics–they addressed women’s issues in ways that few bands dared to before (or even since).  As in the title “Suck My Left One.”  Or the premise of “Carnival,” a song about 16 year old girls giving carnies head to go on rides.

While it’s not always clear what the lyrics are, occasional lines are crystal clear. “Daddy’s l’il girl don’t wanna be his whore no more.”  “As a woman I was taught to always be hungry / Now women are well acquainted with thirst”  Or the addressed-to-all-girlfriends, “Double Dare Ya”

Hey girlfriend
I got a proposition goes something like this:
Dare ya to do what you want
Dare ya to be who you will
Dare ya to cry right outloud

Their music, especially on this early self released tape was raw and edgy, abrasive and confrontational.  And yet at the same time they didn’t completely shy away from melody, as this album’s “Feels Blind” has a simple but catchy melody.

[READ: June 17, 2014] “TV”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to the two graphic stories, we have a series of five personal essays which fall under the heading of “My Old Flame.”  I liked that all five writers have slight variations in how they deal with this topic.

Miranda July’s take on My Old Flame is set back when she was living in Portland. While her story isn’t exactly happy (how many stories about old flames ever are?), this particular old flame had a major impact on her life.

July noticed that there were two women who were always walking together and who loved together.  She was intrigued by them and their cool house and eventually made friends with them.  She was especially interested in the person called TV.  “She, if she was a she, was every boy from every childhood book.”  July had tried to date boys like that but they often turned out to be assholes. But TV had those boyish qualities and a girl’s point of view. (more…)

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