Bratmobile - Girls Get Busy

  by Julia Willis

published: 23 / 5 / 2002

---

My judgement appears to be way off kilter this month… … and my patience is wearing thin. On the bright side this album has one great sample in the meaty guitar riff of ‘ Don’t ask, don’t tell'. I’ll be ringing Norman Cook though right away… On the flip side the hackneyed lyrics of the anachronism that is Riot Grrrl accompany the repetitive death knell that’s drawn to a close by petulant naïve yelling of ‘United we don’t ’. Feminism seems to have become a dirty word these days and I can’t help thinking that the trite regurgitation of lyrics like "Baby I don’t hate men/just all the things they do" hasn’t helped its cause. Opening the punk formula book, picking out chord progressions 3, 4 and 5 and modulating a few times always struck me as a musical cheat. This aside, surely punk music’s about having something to say, having some fun and making some noise. Well, two outta three ain’t bad and Meatloaf never pretended to have the third… whatever Bratmobile have to say on this album is anathema to the emancipated rock chick these days. We don’t hate the boys. We’re past wanting to BE the boys. Everyone knows there’s nothing wrong with being a girl. This musically unremarkable album sets back equality about twenty years and makes me wonder why Bratmobile are flogging the proverbial dead horse. When Riot Grrrl was radical, Bratmobile alongside protagonist Kathleen Hanna’s Bikini Kill were really rather good, but their work here is done. The movement’s long been assimilated into the establishment and anthemic, girly chanting at vocalist Allison’s "Girls make music we’re here to stay/hey! Hey! Hey!" seems a pointless waste of retrospective energy. It appears Bratmobile are resurrected and the girls are planning on staying, but pseudo politics and playground feminism strike a discord when I was expecting something that should had evolved. I thought Bratmobile would rekindle my interest in Riot Grrrl and come back harder, faster, more. There’s plenty of other things to say on the subject of girl-rock but you know women… they just go on and on and on…… but this time, us girls are too far up the road to hear them

Track Listing:-

1 I'm In The Band
2 Shop For America
3 Shut Your Face
4 Don't Ask Don't Tell
5 That’s Happening
6 Cryin Tryin Lyin
7 Whats Wrong With You
8 Idiot Lover
9 Are You A Lady
10 Pagan Baby
11 Chicken Or The egg
12 United We Don't
13 Take The Pain And Use It

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg