Le Tigre

Le Tigre, fronted by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill merges an early '90s riot grrl/punk sound into alt-rock and electronic, ending as a kind of energetic, feminist dance punk. Perhaps more impressively, Le Tigre managed to do this without sacrificing the grit and legitimacy of earlier riot grrl. As such, Le Tigre is a joy to listen to. As catchy and infectious as they are righteously angry: there is an alternate universe in which this served as the template for punk moving into the 2000's. The electronic inspiration is really well-executed, reminding me of the sound that bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and !!! would fall into later. Kathleen Hanna's vocals manage to shoot straight to the front of the mix no matter what's happening. She has way more vocal power than you may assume. And these songs are all pretty great. Great writing, in your face commentary, and sardonic humor run as a throughline here. And just when you start to think you've had enough barnburners, they take the sound somewhere more eclectic on songs like Friendship Station and Dude Yr So Crazy!! and keep it fresh. I also appreciate any album that celebrates queerness this boldly. This album is exciting and driving from front to end and it serves as a great continuation of the Riot Grrl sound.

Aika hauska levy (vaikkakin poliittinen). nautin tästä menosta ja kämäsynista.

The Good: We finally get a French band!
The Bad: It’s a lie…
The Ugly: please don’t make me say it…

Yeah, that was grt if Yr into that stfffff.
I will hand it to the ladies, some of the tunes were catchy, and are worth a second listen… but only for a second, and then you want to head on off to a different place.

Not my cup of tea, though I can understand that there are others who really enjoyed it…

2* because ...

Rocks hard, super interesting and Smart.

A crazy, fun, wild, timeless album... Peak Electropunk from the off with the killer "Deceptacon" and it's all uphill from there.

and who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp?

Going into this, I’d never heard of Le Tigre or their self-titled debut album—so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

What I found was an enjoyable, if not groundbreaking, record. It’s packed with catchy, politically charged pop songs that are both fun and sharp in their messaging. Highlights for me included Eau d’Bedroom Dancing, Friendship Station, and Let’s Run—all infectious tracks with memorable hooks and lyrics. One quirky moment: the riff in Les and Ray kept reminding me of the Only Fools and Horses theme tune, and once I noticed it, I couldn’t un-hear it.

Overall, I’d happily return to this album. It’s clever, catchy, and enjoyable throughout.

Favourite track: Let’s Run and Friendship Station
Least favourite track: Honestly, everything is worth a listen.
Album artwork: A cool cover that fits the vibe.

Pleasantly funky.

Fantastic. Great energy, a little goofy at times, just all around fun. Loved it.

Deceptacon is on my running playlist and always gets me pumped up - and if you could see me wheezing round my local park, you’d know that’s no mean feat. This whole album is a fun shot in the arm - energetic and catchy with a bit of righteous anger thrown in for an extra kick.

2/10

Alright but a little repetitive.

I’m at a 4.

Unique as hell for 1999, I’ll say that. This album feels innovative right off the top, in that it’s just that different from any of its contemporaries. In a lot of ways, this album feels like a time-shifted anomaly, one that does eventually stabilize itself as it goes through its 32 minute runtime, but an anomaly nonetheless. It’s a pretty fun anomaly though.

Honestly, I can’t really think of a good description for how this album sounds; the best thing I have is “the Go-Gos on a little bit of acid”, but that sort of undermines the amount of genres this thing kind of tackles – there’s some Dead Kennedys energy here, little bit of plunderphonics, some 60s-inspired production that sometimes hits on both a Sgt. Pepper’s vibe & a Velvet Underground track at the same time. However, if you listen to the songs themselves, instrumentally, it’s just consistently a bit off-kilter; the actual instruments feel like a blend of MIDI & real stuff, with samples thrown in at lower bitrates to accentuate how slightly off it is, and ultimately, for 1999, it’s just really inspired production that’s intoxicatingly strange. To my ears, it’s more reminiscent of how people perceive 1999 through a Y2K aesthetic in modern times, which makes it feel ahead of the curve & yet totally thematically fitting.

Like I said though, this does stabilize itself – the later tracks of this album don’t carry the same weird energy as the first half does, but they’re still fine regardless. I do wish the album ended on a higher note than “Les & Ray”, but there’s no shame in having a kind of tribute track close out any album. Genuinely, I’m just kind of surprised that this is from 1999, and I’m more surprised I haven’t heard of Le Tigre until now. This isn’t quite up my alley, but I think it’s still cool as hell. It’s a 4 for me, and I’m glad it’s on the list.

P.S.: I need Hayley Williams to cover “Let’s Run” immediately. Also, huge fan of that “Fuck Guiliani” line on “My My Metrocard”.

It’s kind annoying. I didn’t hate it, and musically it was pretty decent, but the singers voice simultaneously shrill yet bland. 2.5 stars if I could.

Incredible!

Not at all what I was expecting!

I actually knew a few of these songs which was super exciting. I've heard Deceptacon a load on tv and never knew the name!

Good stuff

4 ⭐️

Utterly unexpected, had no idea that this was who it is, and love it to bits! Thank you 1001 :)

fun album - reminds me of x-ray spex 3/5 #musicsky #musicchallenge #albumsky

This album cover *also* looks like one of my poorly rasterized middle school artworks (mixed with Spongebob). Being from the 90s, that tracks. I mostly associate Le Tigre with the alphabetically inclined hit dramas The OC and The L Word, but I never listened to them (or Bikini Kill) straight up, mainly because punk has too much yelling for me. Not my favorite genre. Lyrics are good though. And I appreciate that the songs are short. So I will round up to a 3 (although I will never listen to this again) :)

Highlights: 'Hot Topic', 'What's Yr Take on Cassavetes', 'Slideshow at Free University', 'Les and Ray' (all the non-yellers!)

Yes!! Is been awhile since I had a new discovery that I really enjoy! This is fun!

I was pretty impressed with this album. While I'm typically not the biggest punk fan, I found the lyrics to be great, the music to be unique and the beats to be pretty bumping. Not bad. 3/5