Cheap Perfume - Time's Up

  When listening to Cheap Perfume's impressive new album Burn It Down I had one of those "this sounds mightily familiar" moments that occasionally happens when you listen to far too much punk rock music. I'm sure I'd been singing "It's ok to punch nazis" before and indeed I had, the song in question had been released a couple of years ago as a benefit single and had featured on this very blog https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2017/09/cheap-perfume-its-okay-to-punch-nazis.html

  I'd forgotten all about the band but now they're back and they've definitely got my attention again.

  Hailing from Colorado and lining up with Jane No (vocals), Stephanie Byrne (vocals/guitar), Dave "Hot Dave" Grimm (drums) and Geoff Brent (bass), they're an angry, dirty, foul-mouthed and unapologetic feminist punk rock band that are well up for confronting many of the wrongs in society. Don't think it's all po-faced preaching though, far from it. They also display plenty of cheeky humour and acerbic wit. They deliver serious messages on difficult subjects such as sexual assault, sexism, fascism, alcoholism, gender stereotyping and plunging to the depths of despair. But despite the dark subject matter, we also get some great fist in the air, singalongs such as the Joan Jett inspired chant of "I don’t give a fuck about my reputation" and the really rather poppy Fauxminism (plus the aforementioned call to rise up and punch nazis!).

https://www.facebook.com/cheapperfume719/

  The album's titled Burn It Down, it's excellent and you can check it out here :    https://cheapperfume.bandcamp.com/album/burn-it-down

  Album highlight and best singalong chorus? Maybe this. With definite Poly Styrene and Kathleen Hanna influences, this is Times Up...

We know your names, we know your faces
We know your friends and your workplaces
No more predators in our spaces!

Time’s up!
Time’s up, motherfuckers!
Time’s up!

It’s not on women to avoid
The violence of rape culture
It’s up to men to tell their friends
That we deserve better than this

No no, not our responsibility

Allow me to explain how boys
Are raised to think this shit’s OK
They’re not allowed to show emotion
Think their power’s in aggression

Gagging women with your cocks
You think that they are getting hot
But it’s just jocks like Brock who are
The only assholes getting off

Time’s up ...


There’s nothing normal in the way
You treat us like we’re yours to take
Virginity, humanity
Something you’re made to dominate

Not yours, it’s mine to do with as I please

That’s how we got men in our scene
Who violate our dignity
And business owners with money
To defend their atrocities

Time’s up ...