Erika – ‘Onna’ [Review]

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In music, women generally aren’t allowed to be kickass. They can be sex objects, sure, positioning themselves as submissive man-pleasers or manipulative man-eaters…but not much else. Any emotions they happen to show are usually interpreted as attempts at avoiding the dumb-bimbo label, or open invitations into the Black Widow’s web.

In reality, those emotions may be real – and the women themselves are obviously not objects but real people, with their own Read more…

Posted on 23 April 2016

Petrol Girls – ‘Some Thing’ [Review]

In a culture that’s become increasingly impersonal and dehumanising, bands willing to get their hands dirty and dig into real, human issues are more essential than ever before. Turn on the radio and you’ll hear plenty of auto-tuned and hyperquantized songs about going to a club and getting “crunk on da flo’,” but turn it off and look around you and you immediately realise that the radio doesn’t reflect reality.

Why?

Because it’s easier to bury your head in the sand than it is to take even the smallest of actions. Petrol Girls get this – and Read more…

Posted on 19 January 2016

Sonic Boom Six – ‘No Man No Right’: If Feminism Makes You Uncomfortable, You Need To Check This Out. [Review]

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As a straight white guy who spends a lot of his life around music, I get a lot of stick for standing up for anyone who doesn’t fit that same template. But it’s worth doing – and it’s also awesome to be able to point to bands like Sonic Boom Six and say “Look – they’re doing it right!“

No Man No Right – a fun but equally powerful pro-woman ska track, complete with tongue-in-cheek video and infused with that inimitable Sonic Boom Six style – is right on the money. But there’s a question lurking out there – “But you’re a man. So why do you give a shit anyway?”

Here are a few experiences that answer that question:

1) Seeing countless women at rock / punk / metal shows getting leered at, harassed, and/or subjected to the sadly-classic and none-more-creepy “Mystery Grope”;

2) Listening to assorted tossers at shows pointing out to their mates that a female performer is “…pretty good for a girl!” (especially at acoustic shows, where chatting over the performers marks you out as a prick to begin with);

3) Watching female performers “grin and bear it” through sets punctuated by enthusiastic requests that they Read more…

Posted on 26 October 2015