Listening Booth

Help us pay the bills. Make your music purchases through this link:

Artist: Le Tigre
Album: Self Titled

Pop/Punk/Electronic/Riot Grrl trio, is that a musical genre now? Who cares, pigeonholing bands is usually useless as most of the better ones don't fit neatly into a category. So, the above description will just give you an idea of what to expect if you pick Le Tigre's self-titled album. When Bikini Kill broke up, I was disappointed, because this all female punk band knew how to rock out with style. Then I came across Le Tigre when trying to find out if any of the members moved on to musical projects. A key player in Le Tigre is Kathleen Hanna, former BK singer. Imagine Bikini Kill meets Devo, kind of an lo-fi electronic punk album. Stripped down and layered with samples at the same time, Le Tigre puts together an outspoken, unique new wave sound worth checking out.

Artist: Sleater-Kinney
Album: All Hands on the Bad One

I've never been one who likes so-called pop-punk. Somehow, Sleater-Kinney seems to fit under this label though and I have to say I love them. Just after you've gotten done listening to one of their full out guitar assault of "Ironclad" with it's fat bass line and the fierce vocals, you hear the melodies and guitar hooks of "You're No Rock and Roll Fun". They you get hit with the intense "Youth Decay" and you're left wondering if this is punk or if it's pop. Then you realize these women just write good rock music, some is just a little sweeter in the ear. The songs that comes off as punk are the ones I always like best, but the whole album is good and the songs that seem to have some pop sensibilities are no throw always, the ange and the passion just may have been over produced. Why this all girl trio hasn't made it big is a mystery.

Southern Culture On The Skids - Fletcher's Baltimore, MD 6/3/2001

Throw the Beverly Hillbillies, the B-52s, Reverend Horton Heat, and Dick Dale in a blender and you'll start to get an idea of the look and sound of Rockabilly band Southern Culture On The Skids (a.k.a SCOTS). They hit town for a show at local indie rock joint Fletchers the eve before Independence Day and proceeded to show Baltimore their brand of trailer park, hot rod fun. Local slicksters Johnny Love and Speed put on a good show opening up the show with their Stray Cats inspired brand of punk.

SCOTS rolled on to the stage with a look that includes overalls, polyester shirts, and beehive hairdos and proceeded to unleash their southern flavored, punked-up rock and roll songs that pretty much revolve around food, booze, cars, and women. The band is into their southern shtick and their shows are all about having a good time, but don't let that fool you. This is a band of seriously talented musicians. Guitarist/Singer/Head Hillbilly Rick Miller is a wizard on the guitar going from surf guitar licks to rhythm and blues to straight up rock and roll with ease. Bassist Mary Huff keeps the low end going with smooth playing and when she picks up vocals on some of the songs you want her to sing more. Besides, with her dolled up in a denim dress and mile high fire-red hair she's got all the young boys pining for sweet southern girls. Dave Hartman rips it up on stand up drums (first time I've ever seen this) and has style to boot with his Elvis sunglasses and polyester threads. New recruit Chris Bess handles the keyboards with ease and adds a new dimension to old songs.

It took all of about one song to get the sold out crowd to be one giant swarm of moving bodies. Mixing songs from their latest album Liquored Up and Lacquered down with classics like "Dirt Track Date", "Banana Pudding", and "Dance With Me", SCOTS showed the crowd how to have a swamp-rocking good time. Rick decides to invite a few of the female fans up to dance and really get things swinging. With 8 girls on stage, a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken is brought out and passed around to the dancers and the band breaks into "8 Piece Box". What a sight, the girls start dancing, trying to look sexy licking the chicken, rubbing it all over Rick and Chris. Then it starts flying into the audience, getting launched back on stage, and fried chicken is flying around the whole club. A piece lands on Chris' arm and he leans over and scarfs it off his arm without missing a key. A lot more songs were played, but this is the picture that sticks in my mind. Excellent show, lots of fun, and women dancing with fried chicken. What more could you ask for? Best $12 I've spent in a long time.