Les Baton Rouge
My Body – The Pistol
Elevator
If you’re not sick and suspicious of the entire dance-punk thing by now, then you’re a bigger person than I am. This makes it all the more satisfying when someone comes along and proves that there’s still some potential left in a scene that’s been fading since 1982. Portugese-bred, Berlin-based Les Baton Rouge is one of those bands. The quartet debuted with last year’s riot grrl manifesto Women Non-Stop, and they have since spent their time touring Europe and the US, releasing an EP (Chloe Yurtz), climbing the CMJ charts and, generally speaking, building a name for themselves.
Upon first listen, Les Baton Rouge might sound like the myriads of other kraut-punks out there, but they’re more than that; their scope is so much greater. The band’s sound may lean towards No Wave and electroclash, but at heart, this is the sound of contemporary, hard-hitting riot grrl.
My Body • The Pistol is Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Huggy Bear and Peaches rolled into one. Bodies twist into unmentionably spastic dance moves, the voice screams/stutters manically, uncontrollably, disturbingly about body liberation, body sexualization, bodies intertwinging, dominating, infuriating. The music is raw but detailed, subversive and unnerving, shouting for the same kind of attention that the vocals demand.
If not the future of dance-punk, these are the hands that should break its neck and leave the limp genre rotting, before Les Baton Rouges move on to other fields, looking for other stupid male expressions to destroy.
Great album!
Elevator Music: http://www.elevatormusic.com/
