Monday, March 22, 2010

Music Review: Girls Rock

I was originally very excited to listen to this CD. I love girls rock, so I half-expected to be familiar with some of the featured bands. And I was, with a couple. Overall though, I'd have to say I was disappointed in the lack of variety the CD provided because I felt the vast majority of the songs sounded like they came from the same, mediocre band.

The stand-out track of the CD was "Girl Anachronism." I love, love, love the Dresden Dolls. Amanda Palmer is a fabulous, artsy individual, and she has the coolest eyebrows (or lack thereof) I've ever seen. Since stumbling upon them in my first year of high school, "Girl Anachronism" has always been my favorite song, so I was thrilled to see it on this CD. The Dresden Dolls have a really unique sound that mixes cabaret-style with punk; the lyrics are brash, as she'll write exactly what she wants, so this track differed from every other. It's gritty, it's real, the piano playing is frantic, and the lyrics are insane. I highly recommend the group.

The track to which I would give the lowest rating is "Fairytale In the Supermarket" by The Raincoats because I'm not entirely sure what they were playing to make this sound, but in the background was a shrill, wailing noise that I just could not get over. Not to mention the fact that I could barely hear the singer over the band. I just did not like it at all.

I would have to say the biggest disappointment song was "Hot Topic" by Le Tigre, but this was mostly because I was expecting so much more, given that Kathleen Hanna fronted this band. It's not a bad song for when I'm in a chill mood, I just wouldn't say it's anything to dance to. It definitely wasn't what I expected, which was more energy. I expected that from almost all of these songs, but they failed to provide it.

Of course, the "girls rock" I'm used to includes Paramore, Hey Monday, Flyleaf, Nightwish, and The Dresden Dolls, to name a few, and they are products of recent years. The overall sound of this CD will be an acquired taste for me.

The track list, for those interested, is as follows:
1. The Patti Smith Group, "Dancing Barefoot"
2. Le Tigre, "Hot Topic"
3. Sonic Youth, "Bull In the Heather"
4. Sleater-Kinney, "One More Hour"
5. The Breeders, "Cannonball"
6. The Geraldine Fibbers, "California Tuffy"
7. Metric, "Succexy"
8. Yo La Tengo, "Moby Octopad"
9. The Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
10. Throwing Muses, "Freeloader"
11. Liz Phair, "6'1""
12. The Raincoats, "Fairytale In the Supermarket"
13. Elastica, "Waking Up"
14. Kate Bush, "Running Up That Hill"
15. The Kelley Deal 6000, "Confidence Girl"
16. Ladytron, "Playgirl"
17. Ruby, "Bud"
18. Supreme Beings of Leisure, "Ain't Got Nothin'"
19. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Black Tongue"
20. Boss Hog, "Green Shirt"
21. that dog, "Retreat From the Sun"

3 comments:

  1. The lyrics to hot topic are political/intellectual in nature, as such creating a pop-ish sound would be difficult. It's an ode to women she respects and admires for their activism and bravery in the face of repression. And not all good music is to be danced
    too. Here's a link that shows some energy.
    Maybe you'll get that Bikini Kill feel from a live performance.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrg4tbwJl_w

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  2. Sorry you didn't like the mix as much. Le Tigre's first album wasn't as heavily-produced as their more recent fare. Give the tracks "Deceptacon" and "My My Metrocard" a go. I chose "Hot Topic" because I tried to have as many songs on this mix deal with sexual identity (if the selected artist ever recorded one I could easily identify).

    I'm also not a fan of the Raincoats, but Kurt Cobain loved them, so they found their way onto this mix.

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  3. To Eric: I'm not saying that it was a bad song; I was just disappointed. There are ways to have powerful lyrics with energetic music (Girl Anachronism = good example). This CD just had, overall, a different sound than what I expected for being rock.

    But I will give all of the suggested songs a listen!

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