I’ve been thinking about showcasing a riot grrrl era album
on this blog pretty much since I joined. So I’ll go with one of my favorite
albums from the movement. I present to you the debut album from Team Dresch:
Personal Best.
Team Dresch
hails from Olympia, Washington and was heavily involved with both feminist and
LGBT movements. While the riot grrrl movement often encouraged women to start making
their own music and to make themselves heard in a scene dominated by men, part
of what makes Team Dresch stand out is its experience. Its members had been
involved in the music scene for some time prior to forming a band together,
including Donna Dresch who had even played with Dinosaur Jr.
This history
surrounding the band is plainly visible in Personal Best. This album is
catharsis through raw emotion. Personal Best takes the frustration, persecution,
and injustice the band’s members had experienced as openly lesbian and turns these
feelings into blistering and unapologetic tracks. However, not every track is
an all-out punk rock brawl. This album also incorporates elements of grunge and
early indie rock. Several of the more subdued tracks help create an emotionally
charged album that feels remarkably well-rounded.
The previous
musical experience of the band also shines through on this album. The album is
surprisingly listenable both in skill and production. I think this album
demonstrates both the raw expression that punk is often characterized by with
the proficiency of a more seasoned rock outfit.
I realize
that not everyone on this blog is a fan of punk music, but encourage you to
give this album a shot nonetheless.
I never really got into the riot grrrl scene, and that's probably because most of it occurred when I was still a baby. So this was definitely a first for me. I have to say, I really appreciated the aggressive singing style, which was probably rare at the time for a female vocalist.
ReplyDeleteAlright, I'm sorry, but I really can't think of any other positive things to say. This album seems like it has a a lot of history to it, but I'm not that much of a history guy. I'm definitely certain that this album is significant, and is praised, and I can at least appreciate that. However, I'm struggling to find connections I have with this album, and that may be due to the fact that I'm a cis male. That's not to say that cis males cannot enjoy this album, but it contributes to my disconnection from it.
So yeah, luckily I didn't have a hard time finding time to listen to this album, since it was so short. However, it didn't do much for me.
Thanks for the softball this week, Erik. It was a long and stressful week for me so it was nice to have a short, sweet album that was relatable and cathartic to listen to. Surprisingly, Sleater Kinney is as far into the riot grrrl scene as I have dug, but I felt very at home listening to this album. I think you are right about the balance between the rawness that I love about punk with more nuanced styles of rock music.
ReplyDeleteThough this is not the most unique or revolutionary album out there, it's a nice snapshot of the cultural movement happening in the riot grrrl scene, and it plays right to my tastes so I had a great time listening to it this week.
I'm going to apologize in advance but I just couldn't get into this album at all. I only listened to it like 1.5 times so my comments may not hold but it was difficult for me to get through the vocals. I've tried exploring the punk genre, specifically bands lead by female vocalists, and it's a scene I've never been able to get into so it for sure isn't just this record. I don't feel knowledgable enough in the punk scene to comment on style and production but there were some moments where I was like "okay, this is neat"
ReplyDeleteOverall, it just came down to taste for me and unfortunately, nothing about this really grabbed my attention enough to listen to it more.
I feel like I don't really have a whole lot to say about this album. I liked it more than I was expecting to. It's very raw and for lack of a better term, "badass." As someone who rarely if ever hears or reads lyrics, I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot given that, as Wikipedia says, "The band made a significant impression on the DIY movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of those in both the LGBT community and the punk subculture." The band didn't make much of an impression on me, but I don't think that's any fault of their own. It's more one of my limitations as a music listener.
ReplyDeleteIf I wanted to feel a jolt of energy from music, I'd go listen to Queens of the Stone Age or Lightning Bolt. This album is good, but not for me.
Love this album and was very happy to see this was the album you picked!
ReplyDeleteWhile the lyrics are amazing, the thing that really sold this album to me at least was the instrumental performances. These people really knew how to play their instruments (something that can't be said about a lot of punk bands). A lot of their musicianship shines on during some of the quiet parts of the album and their dynamics were top notch. You can hear this on She's Crushing My Mind when the guitar plays that riff with a very clean tone and it's perfect, unlike a lot of punk bands where something like that would be played with heavy distortion to hide some of the sloppiness.
Overall, the album is a great short burst of emotion and energy thats played absolutely flawlessly, which is why I'd probably consider it one of the best riot grrrl era punk bands. Nice pick Erik.
This was a hard one for me, because I really respect the message and what the band accomplished, but I am mostly indifferent to the music itself.
ReplyDeleteI feel like albums such as this one, records that have a further reaching impact than just the music, are sometimes difficult to gauge as a late comer. I just expected...more? Which probably isn't fair. I found the vocals fairly boring, but again, mostly because they paved the way for the genre and now in retrospect they seem style typical. The instrumentation is more skilled than usual punk fair, but I still wasn't particularly interested or blown away. I read through the lyrics and found a lot of it interesting. That's definitely a strength of the record and what I enjoyed the most.