Before I get on this review, I just want to give a big thank you to Joel and Sherylyn who recently gave me the benefit of their CD lore (and CDs along with). I'm looking forward to hearing this new music with the same enthusiasm Francis Drake once looked out upon the Pacific Ocean - except without all the piracy and what-not.
Now, on to the latest entry in the CD Odyssey.
Disc 133 is...Bricks Are Heavy
Artist: L7
Year of Release: 1992
What’s Up With The Cover?: I'm not sure. I think this is time lapsed photography of a couple people dressed in early nineties attire, swinging lit torches about. It's cool anyway - they even put flames around Tipper Gore's Parental Advisory Label, so it fits in thematically.
How I Came To Know It: Another album I owe to my friend and former room-mate Greg. I always loved this album, and it was one of the first I went out and bought when I could no longer play his.
How It Stacks Up: L7 weren't together that long, and they only made four albums. Of the four, two are really good and of those two, I'd say "Bricks Are Heavy" is the best. So how does it stack up? Number One!
Rating: 4 stars.
L7 were an early nineties all-girl band that I really dug in the day, and still play quite often today. They are a heavy, no nonsense group that will assault your senses. I'm pretty sure the Runaways and the Go Gos wouldn't want to run into these gals in a dark alley - L7 would kick their ass. Well, most of them anyway. Joan Jett could hold her own, of course, and Jane Wiedlin no doubt fights dirty. You'll always be my favourite Go Go, Jane...
As you can see from the tags I put on this entry, I had a hard time figuring out just what kind of music L7 makes. It is definitely rock n' roll. It has elements of punk, but also metal. In the day they were lumped in with grunge because they came out in the early nineties, played alternative music, and had a pulse (see Phair, Liz).
Songs cover a wide range of topics. "Wargasm" a bitterly angry anti-war song, and "Pretend We're Dead" calls out the unexamined life. There are more than a few tracks with varying messages of 'I hate you' and the gals even take time out to list the ways you can make their "Shitlist" (Hint: there are many).
This album is a tight little collection of only eleven songs, the longest clocking in at only 4:21. If you read this blog, you know I am a fan of brevity on an album, and they deliver. There aren't any bad tracks, per se, although some are better than others. Every track is as heavy as...well, as heavy as a brick. A few ("One More Thing", "Diet Pill") are as heavy as a bag of bricks.
On the other hand, it has been pointed out by the very person who introduced me to this band (Greg) that a lot of their songs sound basically the same. This occasionally manifests (hilariously) with a chorus of 'when we pretend that we're dead' from those who recognize when an L7 song comes on - regardless of the song.
While I partially subscribe to this theory (and have even sung a little 'pretend that we're dead' along with the boys) the realization doesn't bother me. I liken it to ACDC; all their songs may sound the same - but they also all sound pretty good.
This record doesn't have a ton of range, but it sounds consistently good, and it makes you want to mosh until you throw your neck out. Also, the gals in L7 are pretty hot in an "I'm scared of them but kind of like it" way.
Best tracks: Wargasm, Pretend We're Dead, Diet Pill, One More Thing, Shitlist
Now, on to the latest entry in the CD Odyssey.
Disc 133 is...Bricks Are Heavy
Artist: L7Year of Release: 1992
What’s Up With The Cover?: I'm not sure. I think this is time lapsed photography of a couple people dressed in early nineties attire, swinging lit torches about. It's cool anyway - they even put flames around Tipper Gore's Parental Advisory Label, so it fits in thematically.
How I Came To Know It: Another album I owe to my friend and former room-mate Greg. I always loved this album, and it was one of the first I went out and bought when I could no longer play his.
How It Stacks Up: L7 weren't together that long, and they only made four albums. Of the four, two are really good and of those two, I'd say "Bricks Are Heavy" is the best. So how does it stack up? Number One!
Rating: 4 stars.
L7 were an early nineties all-girl band that I really dug in the day, and still play quite often today. They are a heavy, no nonsense group that will assault your senses. I'm pretty sure the Runaways and the Go Gos wouldn't want to run into these gals in a dark alley - L7 would kick their ass. Well, most of them anyway. Joan Jett could hold her own, of course, and Jane Wiedlin no doubt fights dirty. You'll always be my favourite Go Go, Jane...
As you can see from the tags I put on this entry, I had a hard time figuring out just what kind of music L7 makes. It is definitely rock n' roll. It has elements of punk, but also metal. In the day they were lumped in with grunge because they came out in the early nineties, played alternative music, and had a pulse (see Phair, Liz).
Songs cover a wide range of topics. "Wargasm" a bitterly angry anti-war song, and "Pretend We're Dead" calls out the unexamined life. There are more than a few tracks with varying messages of 'I hate you' and the gals even take time out to list the ways you can make their "Shitlist" (Hint: there are many).
This album is a tight little collection of only eleven songs, the longest clocking in at only 4:21. If you read this blog, you know I am a fan of brevity on an album, and they deliver. There aren't any bad tracks, per se, although some are better than others. Every track is as heavy as...well, as heavy as a brick. A few ("One More Thing", "Diet Pill") are as heavy as a bag of bricks.
On the other hand, it has been pointed out by the very person who introduced me to this band (Greg) that a lot of their songs sound basically the same. This occasionally manifests (hilariously) with a chorus of 'when we pretend that we're dead' from those who recognize when an L7 song comes on - regardless of the song.
While I partially subscribe to this theory (and have even sung a little 'pretend that we're dead' along with the boys) the realization doesn't bother me. I liken it to ACDC; all their songs may sound the same - but they also all sound pretty good.
This record doesn't have a ton of range, but it sounds consistently good, and it makes you want to mosh until you throw your neck out. Also, the gals in L7 are pretty hot in an "I'm scared of them but kind of like it" way.
Best tracks: Wargasm, Pretend We're Dead, Diet Pill, One More Thing, Shitlist
1 comment:
Really wish I could have been at your party. Alas, duty called...
I hope you enjoy the new tunes and look forward to hearing (or reading) your thoughts.
Happy Birthday!
Post a Comment