CD Odyssey Disc 344: L7

Sometimes in life, you just need a little angry music. At those times, this next band may be for you. I wasn't feeling particularly angry of late, but I still appreciate the music when it is done well.

Disc 344 is...Hungry for Stink

Artist: L7

Year of Release: 1994

What’s Up With The Cover?: If this passenger started the journey with the driver, I wonder whether they arrived in the bloody bunny mask or put it on later? How about the knife? After the bloody bunny mask, the knife might've felt pretty logical, I suppose. If this passenger was a hitchhiker then it is a good reminder not to pick them up.

How I Came To Know It: As I noted way back when I reviewed "Bricks Are Heavy" at Disc 133, L7 was a band my old room-mate was into in the early nineties. "Hungry For Stink" was just me digging deeper into their catalogue after I was hooked.

How It Stacks Up: I had originally thought L7 only had four albums, but I'm since informed they have six. I only have their first four, and of those I'd put "Hungry For Stink" third best. It is OK, but not on par with classics "Smell The Magic" and the aforementioned "Bricks Are Heavy."

Rating: 3 stars.

L7 is an angry, all-woman rock/punk band that enjoyed a period of significant but brief popularity in the early nineties. They are talented, attractive and more than a little scary.

Because of the time period, and their musical style, they are often considered part of the grunge movement, but I hesitate to use era-specific genre labels on A Creative Maelstrom. Instead, you'll note that I resorted to three different tags (punk, rock and metal) to capture just what they sound like.

"Hungry For Stink" is their fourth album, coming immediately after "Bricks Are Heavy." I am impressed just how much different "Hungry For Stink" is, given the preceding album's popularity. It is so easy for a band to fall into a golden rut once they've found a winning formula, but L7 avoided this fate, at least on this record.

The essentials are still there. The guitars feature that heavily distorted 'chukka chukka chukka' sound that was fairly common to punk/rock crossovers and stoner metal of the time. L7 plays the style well, and I love the way the low notes of the guitar and bass hit me deep in the gut.

Add to this the vocals of Donita Sparks, which are so raw and angry they instantly give the stoner guitar licks their punk edge. Sparks sings with such disdain and ragged vibrato that she sounds like she's shouting at you even when she isn't under full power. More amazing, she makes being shouted at an enjoyable experience.

The band uses punk arrangements, but eschews the punk sensibility of deliberately sounding muddy. Instead, they play tight and crisp; something I wish punk would do more often (yeah - I said that). I give full credit to Jennifer Finch on bass, holding everything together down in the basement and contributing some strong writing to the record as well.

That said, "Hungry For Stink" is less polished than "Bricks Are Heavy" from a production standpoint, but I suspect is a deliberate decision. The album in many ways sounds more like the band's early work, with a reduced focus on hooks.

This is particularly evident on "Baggage," a song that flips the whole dismissive expression 'she has baggage' on it's head. L7 doesn't just have baggage, they know exactly why, and they aren't afraid to tell you about it, leaving no room for misinterpretation. This is a band in touch with their feelings (including the negative ones) and they won't countenance you being out of touch with them.

"The Bomb" explores the throw-away and artificial nature of modern mass culture. This is a very common punk theme, and in truth, L7 covers the topic better on 1990's "Smell The Magic" with the song "American Society." That said, "The Bomb" is pretty good, and plenty angry enough.

The lyrics on "Hungry For Stink" aren't great, but that isn't what this album is about. It is about laying down a heavy, deep-in-the-craw groove and building from there. The lyrics are like the music in that respect, simple, visceral and in your face.

One of my favourite moments on this record is right near the end. "Shirley" is a song in honour of Shirley Muldowney, a famous woman drag racer who used to be at the top of the sport in the late seventies and early eighties.

Like any ten year old from a small town in BC, I was enthralled with drag racing and Nascar and 'remembering that rumblin' sound' just like Steve Earle's big block Dodge in "Copperhead Road." I haven't cared a great deal about motor sports in decades, other than a continuing fascination with owning an early seventies Dodge Charger (it will happen, my friends).

However, when I put on "Hungry For Stink" the last couple days, there was Shirley Muldowney, reborn in my memory after so many years forgotten. As a kid, I thought nothing of Shirley Muldowney's exceptional contribution as a woman, breaking new ground in a section of sports so dominated by men; I just liked watching her race. Of course, looking back it was a big deal. L7, a band that personifies female empowerment, brought her back to me. Best line in the song:

"How many times must you be told
There's nowhere that we don't go.
'What's a beautiful girl doing in a place like this?'
Winning."

Overall, this album wins as well. The songs aren't incredible innovative, but they are heavy, headbanging anthems that take no prisoners.

Best tracks: Andres, Baggage, The Bomb, Stuck Here Again, Shirley, Talk Box