Le Tigre
(Universal)
Music aside, Le Tigre is a great band. The current project of Kathleen Hanna, the band's pedigree is second to none; the former Bikini Kill founder was in the thick of the grunge-era, feminist-rocker riot-grrl movement. Even now, among a litany of other leftist causes, the openly gay Le Tigre carry the feminist torch. Right now, they're on tour with Gloria Steinem. They make for a hell of an icon.
However, they make for a terrible band. is yet another poor to mid-level release from a band who are important for every other reason than their work product.
may be the most generic sounding album this year. It's the b-rate songs off all the other dance punk albums, with a few more synthesizer chirps added in. Their songs are what happens to hook-laden music when the hooks are taken away. Le Tigre not only manage to turn their own songs into vapid, instantly forgettable beeps and bloops, but they find a way to make a cover of \I'm So Excited"" as funless as their own stuff.
Worse, for the first time Le Tigre's politics have become as dulled as their music. They were supposed to be the band that brought liberality to the forefront. Instead, they confuse feminism and campaigning for gay rights with standing under a big, gaudy sign that says, ""We're lesbians. Watch out."" ""New Kicks,"" 's collage of sampled speeches from the Stop the War rally, seems devoid of urgency, even to people who attended the rally. Their politics used to be the half-hearted justification for their half-rate disco, but now Le Tigre's message is delivered in songs as blunt and unwieldy as a big club. And about as clever as one, as well.
Once or twice, the band finds a song that works. Not coincidentally, that seems to happen when they stretch as far from the core style of the album as they can. The faded, sprawling ""Tell You Now"" sounds like a more melodic ""Down By the Water"" PJ Harvey; the industry-mocking ""Nanny Nanny Boo Boo"" would seem a lot more clever if its barbs aimed at critics not getting their music appeared on a better album. But what successes they have are in such a sea of missteps that it's easy to lose them.
It's easy to want to like Le Tigre, to support their issues and goals, to respect Kathleen Hanna's history. But it's near impossible to actually like an album this bad.
Yeah, they're women, and yeah, they're gay. But that isn't an excuse to record bad music.
