Townsman 2000 Man, our Rookie of the Month, has submitted the following blast of fierce, passionate rock ‘n roll fury and advice. Listen to what the man says!
The apparent arrival of Wuss Week at RTH has motivated me to put forth the effort and not only take from the RTH community, but to give something back as well. Mr. Moderator asked me to contribute something if I had the time, and I’m kinda still finding my way on that request, but the 24/7 rock and roller in me can only take so much Scuffy Shew and The Byrds. I try, but really, where’s the FUN!?
So I give you Exhibit G. The new Gore Gore Girls album, Get the Gore. You can feel safe purchasing any completely unheard album where the cover is a white Gretsch guitar, a black leather boot with five-inch heels, and thighs up to here. Trust me on this – you really can’t go wrong. Even on a puny cd you can tell that the insides of this one are gonna be great. The lp cover must be glorious. (I wonder if you can get a 24” record so the cover would be twice as big?). But what really counts is that these girls from Detroit just tear it up when it comes to rock n’ rolling, and their sound is infectious and fun, incorporating loads of guitars, pounding drums, and a knack for melding girl group harmonies into some seriously hard rock and roll.
The album kicks off with “Fox In A Box”, which is the kind of silly teenage girly anthem that The Donnas do well, but The Gore Gore Girls are less bombastic and AC/DC sounding. The Gore Gore Girls are leaner, more worldly, and definitely more assertive women than The Donnas are. Where The Donnas may make a boy weak in the knees, The Gore Gore Girls have that affect on men. Check out “Pleasure Unit”. I tend to like misogynistic rock n’ roll, not because I don’t like women, but because I can empathize with the singer having a trampled on heart and feeling that getting even with all of womankind is the best option. Being a man, I know damned well that this getting even never works because women just don’t play fair and they know they don’t have to.
“Pleasure Unit”
So I think The Gore Gore Girls are misandrists (oh, yeah I had to look it up, I wanted to make up mansogynists, too). But I can empathize with that. Besides, women like that fascinate men anyway.
They wrote over half of the songs themselves, and the covers they chose are perfect fits. This may not bode well for The Detroit Cobras, because Amy Surdu can write good songs, too. If she decides to start grabbing from The Cobras grab bag, then Rachel Nagy might have to
straighten up and work harder. Check out my favorite cover on the album, “Where Evil Grows”, which was written by Terry Jacks (yes, THAT Terry Jacks, the one with just as much raw emotion as Scuffy Shew!). It’s
bodacious, anyway. Maybe one day they’ll rub their Detroit Rust Dust all over Seasons in the Sun, too. I bet it would work.
“Were Evil Grows”
What really works the best of all is the guitars. There’s plenty of big chords, but The Hammer brings The Rock with biting leads (KingEd should appreciate the well-timed and perfectly placed wails). Someone like me appreciates the fact that these wailing leads are bites and not 9-minute guitar player jerk offs. Hammer brings it twice on the cover “You Lied To Me”, first with a frantic single string Ronnie Wood inspired blast, and then a less than frantic, but equally fantastic simple solo to take the song out to the end. “Sweet Potato” gives us lots of great hand claps and let’s us guys know just how much Amy Gore likes us little “sweet potatoes.” The album wraps up with a terrifical instrumental blast called “Hammer Stomp”. All guitars, all the time, just the way it’s supposed to be. It clocks in at a nice 1:45 or so, so it’s never so much that it’s too much.
Maybe it’s the heat that’s mellowed out the hallowed halls of
RTH? If that’s the case, then The Gore Gore Girls aren’t going to cool things off. They’re going to heat things up. Thank you, Gore Gore Girls! Thank you, Bloodshot Records! Thank you high-heel boot company! Thank you mini-skirt store! Thank you, thank you all!
Such raw male emotion!! Enjoyed reading your take on The Gore Gore’s 2000 man;*) Dig those tracks –
Thak you, Sally! I’m nothing if not raw.
ha ha;) siiiiigh…
the gore gore girls are great.
2k, have you heard the first Mr. Airplane Man album, “C’mon DJ”?
it packs a wallop akin to this, but heavier, sloppier.
i don’t know about their other albums, but i think they’ve moved in mellower directions since then. definitely check out “C’mon DJ”.
i think you’ll dig, tough guy.
I was just talking about Mr. Airplane Man with some dude a few minutes ago. I really dig “C’mon DJ”. It packs the kind of a wallop that leaves a mark.
Though I don’t think of them as a “girl group” even though they are both of the female persuasion and in fact are wearing leather boots on that cover as well. Whereas The Gore Gore Girls, and others are clearly positioning themselves as such.
I don’t know anyone that knows Mr. Airplane Man, and I really like them a lot. I have really been looking for a long time for a place where people don’t just give me the **blank friggin’ stare** post when I mention a new album I bought. In the couple of weeks I’ve been here, I’ve heard people talk about bands I considered obscure like they were bands that were everyone’s old favorites, and I’ve been turned on to a lot of things I’ve never heard, some good, some bad, but I’m always checking out the songs and videos that are here because it’s amazing how many different kinds of rock and roll you guys listen to.
Anyway, I really like C’mon DJ. That’s actually their last album, and I think the ladies have called it quits (I think Margaret had a baby). I’ve got their second album, too. It’s called “Moanin'” and it has the audio version of “Jesus on the Mainline” on it, that appears as a bonus video on C’mon DJ. I’ve never come across their first one.
But you guys are both right. I love that simple, sloppy stuff.
I’ve got “Moanin” too and dig it. eMusic has Red Lite and a 2004 ep called Shakin’ Around which are both in my “Save For Later” basket, along with about 50 other things.
Red Lite – that’s what the first one is called. I didn’t know they had an ep, too. The record store I get those kinds of albums from hasn’t had Red Lite, and I’m not much of an ordering person. I genuinely like to shop at the record store, and it’s just no fun to just go in and grab a stack of cd’s from behind the counter.
2K, judging by the two songs you’ve got here, the guitar work meets my simple yet stringent standards. This is all those Heartless Bastards needed to get over the top for me. Gotta grab some more of these Girls. Thanks.
2k, how uh-BOUT them first three songs on “C’mon DJ”, huh? that’s some fine shit. not at all surprised you already knew about them.
their myspace page says they’re playing at near philly, at haverford college, on september 7th. too bad i won’t be in town….
Hey, don’t be busting on the Detroit Cobras, here! I totally like what I’ve heard of their stuff. And one thing that makes me most fond of them is their audible sense of enjoyment. They’re not too cool for their own school. Songs like “Watch Me Eat a Hot Dog” are funny, and their having fun singing it without needing to pretend it’s bad ass. The result is sexy, IMO. Like those other-worldly videos from India, where they dance around doing their sexy thing, but they’re unabashedly enjoying themselves. Their faces reflect happiness, and not the look in the American videos, in which while doing anything sexy you have to look as though someone just rear-ended your car. So there’s the Detroit Cobras, singing about thinking someone is really hot or really great, and not having to berate them for it. I like the Gore stuff posted here, and the girl kicking ass does it for me as much as the next fellow, I’d prefer if they sounded like kicking ass was fun!
The Detroit Cobras stuff I have is highly enjoyable. I like the way they let their music swing. They sound more like a British Beat band than an American garage band.
Oh, I’m not trying to bust too hard on the Cobras. They make great records, and they’re FUN, and FUN is what rock n’ roll should be. My only issues with them is that so far, I’ve never heard anyone come away from a show happy. Rachel is always “too something” and it seems to throw the band off, then the paying customers have “no fun.” But Rachel has a great voice, the band is aces and their knowledge of the arcane kickass groove is amazing. I wish they’d write more of their own stuff, but even if they don’t, I’m still a fan of their records, and making great records is quite a skill, indeed.