Obviously with so much great music being released during 2020, some bands were always going to slip under the radar and one band I missed out on were French feminist/queercore punks Radical Kitten (https://www.facebook.com/Radical-Kitten-2269316249827120). They're from Toulouse and last October saw them release an album called Silence Is Violence. They were brought to my attention by Jim Lachlan who said they had a hint of Perth's finest Cold Meat (https://staticshockrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hot-and-flustered) to their sound. I checked them out and was very impressed so asked him to say a few words.
Cheers Jim...
Radical Kitten - Toulouse trio (Marin : bass & vocals, Iso : guitar & vocals, Marion : drums) - Silence is Violence 12 track - Araki Records, Stonehenge Records, Domination Queer Records.
Interesting post-punk sound. Something for everyone here. Strong short shouty tracks ( I Can’t Deal and I’m Bored) to brooding building tracks (Silence, The One The First). Definite leanings towards the best of Au Pairs and early Gang of Four sound in both bass and guitar. Very strong lead female vocal drives each track on. Quality abrasive guitar throughout in a well honed minimalist style. Best track(s) for me ? The One The First, I’m Bored and Silence.
This is The One The First...
You've got be the one the first
you've got to fall
to fall to get up to fall
to be the one at first
You're down you're down you think you learn
but you hurt you loose you cry
you've tried you dance you fuck
you run you run !
You're down you're down you think you learn
but you hurt you loose you cry you've tried
you run away !
Another guest review today as Darren Bourne of Tadpole Records draws our attention to one of the many great bands from his home city...
The 2020 lockdown has stopped a
lot of things, but you can't keep the good punks down, and so we have
a new Demo from Vanilla Giver (https://www.facebook.com/vanillagiver/), who are a queer punk rock
band currently living in Brighton.
What you get are 5 tracks of
Punk / Grunge that should appeal to fans of raw garage punk, L7, punk
rock, 90's grunge or the Lunachicks. It's raw, short & loud - as
all good punk should be.
My favourite track is "Light up
your Life" with it's catchy chorus, but you can check it all out
at https://vanillagiver.bandcamp.com/album/ffs & rock out to tracks like "Traffic
Warden Love Song" or "Single Mumz".
Final song
"The Best" has a more shouty chorus and would fit on a 90's
Riot Grrrl compilation with it's screaming backing vocals & it's
a solid ending to a solid demo.
Hopefully I'll get to watch
them rock out live in 2021, I have a feeling it'll be a lot of fun &
after the shit show that is 2020, we could all do with a bit of fun.
London's Dream Nails (https://www.facebook.com/yourdreamnails/) were planning to release their debut album next month but unfortunately due to the current Corona Virus outbreak it's (and the tour in support of it) been put back till September. To whet our appetites, they've been drip feeding us a series of singles and it's the latest one that I'm featuring today...
Described by i-D magazine as the best DIY all-girl punk queertet since Bikini Kill, the band don't hold back with their views on feminism, homophobia and even getting women to the front at their gigs. They're a serious band with serious concerns but they're not afraid to have fun too. They're fresh, energetic and have been picking up plenty of rave reviews and mainstream airplay.
This single was written following the attack, on a London bus, of Melania Geymonat and Christine Hannigan by a group of young men. It asks the question, what makes so many misogynistic guys hate what they most desire? (The most popular searched term on online porn sites in 2019 was "Lesbian"). No one deserves to live in fear.
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!).
Is it just me or is the UK punk scene fucking great at the moment. Obviously on the downside there's pretty much no acknowledgement of it's existence from any major media outlets and many of the bands are struggling to attract people to turn out to their gigs but as far as the music being released is concerned it's a wonderful time to be a punk. To highlight some of that music, I put together a UK special show last week (https://www.mixcloud.com/mick-fletcher/just-some-punk-songs-uk-special/) and Petrol Girls weren't even in it! Mainly because I'd played them the week before but also because there's so many bands out there I could only scratch the surface.
Anyway, Petrol Girls, no strangers to this blog... named after a group of molotov cocktail throwing French revolutionaries (Petroleuses) are now based in Austria (another reason for not featuring them on the show). They line up with Ren Aldridge (vocals), Joe York (guitar/vocals), Liepa Kuraite (bass/vocals) and Zock (drums). They play angry feminist post-hardcore songs and new album, Cut & Stitch, is their most experimental record yet. It's available from Hassel Records and on Bandcamp https://petrolgirls.bandcamp.com/album/cut-stitch
This song is a fine example of what they're about, it's a feminist anthem which samples Poly Styrene and tackles the subject of many marginalised groups only being tolerated when they're quiet. It's called Big Mouth...
Voices of the marginalised Tolerated if we remain quiet Bodies of the marginalised Tolerated under their control Voices of the marginalised Tolerated if we remain quiet Bodies of the marginalised Tolerated Tolerated!
I’m raising my voice louder It carries me beyond their walls Our silence will not save us They can’t contain they can’t control They can’t control
Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard But I think UP YOURS 1,2,3,4
Keep your voice down Know your place Bite your tongue You best behave Keep your head down Stay in line Keep your mouth shut
The Menstrual Cramps formed in Bristol before moving to London to record their 2017 debut album We're Not Ovaryacting. Diy, political, riot grrrl punk with a sense of humour, definitely a band to check out. A typical example of their music comes in the form of first single My Bush Ain't Ur Business, a song that upset the powers that be on Youtube but which can be found on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/184982068). Other highlights from the album include Cull The Tories, Hashtag Sad Penis, Another Sesh and Lying Cheatin' Fucking Scumbag. Poly Styrene once sang "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard." Like Poly Styrene, this is a band that would give those people short shrift. The Menstrual Cramps are loud, opinionated but definitely not po faced. They're going to speak their minds but they're going to have fun too.
Lining up with Emilia Elfrida (vocals), Cooper Rose (guitar), Robyn Jenner (bass) and Beth White (drums) they've recently returned with album number 2. It's titled Free Bleedin' and you can stream it on Spotify, i Tunes, Google Play etc. Cds will be available at their upcoming gigs and you can find details here : https://www.facebook.com/TheMenstrualCramps/
The first video from the album is below. Unfortunately for some reason I can't suss out it doesn't seem to want to paste on here so you'll have to click the Youtube link to watch it. It's called Boycott The Lot : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvsSMGiBTNg
Cheap Perfume are a feminist punk rock band who formed in Colorado in 2015 and who's line up features Jane No (vocals), Stephanie Byrne (vocals/guitar), Dave "Hot Dave" Grimm (drums) and Geoff Brent (bass). They released their debut album, Nailed It, in Nov 2016 and they sing about subjects such as women's rights, equality, sex, relationships, violence and politics.
Earlier this month they released a new single which deals with the rise of the alt right, how they're emboldened by the bully in the White House and how even though violence is wrong, it's ok to confront fascists with direct action. It was inspired by events in Charlottesville and the punching of white nationalist Richard Spencer. The song also wonders how it's possible for the US to elect a rapist rather than a woman. You can find both album and single here : https://cheapperfume.bandcamp.com/. All proceeds from the single will be donated to the Heather Heyer foundation.
This is It's Ok (To Punch Nazis).....
Our fear has made us gullible A bully rose to take control And now they're yelling "off with their heads!" We've been through this, we ended it Or so we thought, it had been fought It's like an army back from the dead
The racists got a PR firm Hired men in fancy shirts But have the same ideology We've had to say a lot of stuff we thought was fucking obvious like YES ITS OKAY TO PUNCH NAZIS
(chorus) Never thought that it would happen but now look where we are We'd rather have a rapist than a woman in power When we got complacent in defending our rights The nazis changed their names and they're called the alt right
Death to white supremacists Like Milo Yiannopoulos Homophobes and hatred they spread Let's get intersectional Basic human rights for all We won't stop till fascism's dead
Terrorize the red pill plague Poison all the KKK And piss on your ideology We've had to say a lot of stuff we thought was fucking obvious like YES IT'S OKAY TO PUNCH NAZIS
(chorus) Never thought that it would happen but now look where we are We'd rather have a rapist than a woman in power When we got complacent in defending our rights The nazis changed their names and they're called the alt right [x3]
I've been waiting for this video to turn up online ever since the Just Some Punk Songs show chatroom were blown away by the song a few weeks ago. Needless to say it was well worth the wait.
Tagging themselves Raging Feminist Post-Hardcore, the song you'll find below is one of the most powerful that I've featured on here ("they sound like a female fronted At The Drive In" was one of the chatroom comments). Their current tour with Strike Anywhere is gonna blow a few venue roofs off! This is Touch Me Again.....
Touch Me Again My domain my temple and my territory my pleasure Cut cut cut it out My desire my right to choose or to refuse this encounter Cut cut cut it out My agency that non consensual contact tries to take from me Cut cut cut it out My fucking mind you undermine my sense of self you pressurize Cut cut cut it out Its my body and my choice It's my body My fucking choice My power my psyche and my energy my decision Cut cut cut it out My passion could never be ignited by such aggression Cut cut cut it out My liberty my body as the base of my autonomy Cut cut cut it out I need to see us make progress towards accountability Cut cut cut it out Its my body and my choice Its my body My fucking choice My lips my thighs my wrists my mind My lips my thighs my wrists my spine My hips my neck my tongue my mind Touch me again and I'll fucking kill you Touch me again and I'll fucking kill you Touch me again and I'll fucking kill you Touch me again and I will fucking kill you
