Hump Day Treat, Overshadowed Record Release Edition

Corin Tucker isn't the only Kill Rock Stars artist who debuted an album last Tuesday. On the very same day, New York City's own Marnie Stern released her third and self-titled album. You can get it via Kill Rock Stars on CD, as a digital download, or as an instant download with an LP order.

I myself do not yet have the album. But I have listened to the two free mp3s offered by KRS (...and perhaps a few more tracks at a certain streaming video wesbite....), and it seems like on this record Marnie continues to expand her songwriting and singing, while attempting to further develop the guitar skills that made her name. Stern has since shied away from her signature virtuosic fingertapping style, as if she is no longer willing to hide her voice and thematic content behind it.

But don't take my word for it. Listen to not one but BOTH free mp3s, and judge for yourself on this slow-going hump day.

Hump Day Treat, Return of the Queen edition

Corin Tucker is officially back -- the much anticipated 1,000 Years was released on Kill Rock Stars just yesterday.

Never having been presumptuous or diva enough to work alone, Corin's new release is technically by The Corin Tucker Band. She's backed here, and on her upcoming tour, by collaborators and friends Sara Lund and Seth Lorinczi.



My fellow fans of Tucker's work with Heavens to Betsy and Sleater-Kinney may find 1,000 Years a bit quiet, but devotees of Corin's distinct songwriting style, of her talent for succinct, emphatic storytelling through sensuously embodied images, will not be disappointed. Oh, and yes, her voice is as thrillingly powerful as ever, even though she seems to be working hard at singing a bit differently this time around, just as she seems to have modified her vocal style with each new project she undertakes.

Corin has talked in interviews about this record's content. She's charmingly and self-deprecatingly referred to 1,000 Years as a 'middle aged-mom record', calling it "not something a young person would write". The lyrics do feature mature themes, like marriage woes and the strain of providing for a family in the current economic climate. But Corin also sings about the excitement and the uncertainty of personal transformation, and in a way that feels quite relatable, and surprisingly comforting.

The album is available on CD, for digital download, and as an LP with download. From what I understand, if you order it directly from KRS, you can get the download instantly, right after you make your payment.

But the album isn't the only thing that made it's debut yesterday -- the music video from the record's first single is out now too! So enjoy some brand new Corin on this pleasantly sunny, autumn hump day.

Hump Day Treat, "Haaave you met my friend Amy?" edition

So I was trying to think really seriously about this blog reaching its two year mark, where this blog is at, and what I've learned here in the past 365 days. But then my friend and fellow rock camp volunteer Amy, who plays in Titus Andronicus posted a kick ass and unfortunately short video of her band doing an awesome cover:

Titus Andronicus -- "Rebel Girl" (Bikini Kill) from mehan jayasuriya on Vimeo.

via Amy's fantastic blog

Readers might remember Titus Andronicus from my post on Red Hook High's Men Can Stop Rape benefit concert.. For anyone who hasn't had a chance to listen, here's a music video featuring the lovely Amy. Don't be fooled by the beards and touches of plaid or the 'critical' acclaim from places like Pitchfork on this sunny hump day. Just enjoy the great songwriting, wonderful energy, and a band that knows how to use their love of the E Street Band for good, and not evil.

Hump Day Treat, Last week's show this evening edition

Though I admittedly did a lot of crying last week on my birthday, I ended up having a really good time at a fantastic show that night. Completely by coincidence friend and fellow volunteer Angie was playing that night with one of her bands, Little Lungs, and so I ended up seeing and hanging out with a lot of other volunteers, friends, and hometown diy heroines. Still feeling grateful for the entire experience on this damp hump day.

Hump Day Treat, Yesterday's Theme This Evening Edition

Thinking and writing about the importance of communication has made me really think about how difficult communication, of any nature, can be. Saying how you feel in a public, hostile space like a show can be scary. But sometimes trying to have a meaningful dialogue with a person you know is even scarier and more difficult than talking to a stranger who's twice your size and drunk.

Sometimes the words 'dialogue' and 'communication' are used interchangeably, but they aren't the same. Dialogue is a type of communication, but communication isn't necessarily dialogue, because dialogue implies a certain reciprocal respect, a certain bilateralism.

To put it another way: a screaming fight with someone isn't dialogue, though it might enable both participants to communicate how they feel. Dialogue, or at least amongst the womens' studies set, is about talking with someone and having both speakers get something out of it. It's supposed to be productive.

Today's video of part of a recent live set by Trophy wife opens with a song about this very topic. Enjoy, and maybe reflect on your communication skills, on this hump...night. I know that's what I'll be doing.

Hump Day Treat, In Keeping with Yesterday's Theme Edition

As it happens, two of the members of the panel I wrote about yesterday play in a band called Titfit, which I've been lucky enough to see live a couple times during this long, busy summer. Unsurprisingly, sexual health community activists Lee (vocals and guitar) and Kat (bass and vocals) preach what they practice in their band's songs, like in this particular song about an inconsiderate and dishonest partner.

The song might not sound positive, but as I see it, there can never be enough queer punk break up anthems. And this one is especially good because it encourages us to demand more from our relationships and from ourselves. As Lee sings, we owe it to each other to take care of one another. So feel the righteous rage and sex positivity on this miserably humid hump day!

Hump Day Treat, post-Big She Bang Edition PART TWO!

Today's video is of another band that performed at The Big She Bang, the newly local Aye Nako. What does 'newly local' mean? Well, from what I understand, two thirds of the band recently relocated to Brooklyn from the Bay area, where they went by the name Fleabag. This video is so old that it likely dates back from that era.

Age is nothing but a number though, and this wonderfully-shot video captures the band's joyfully up-tempo sound and blunt delivery. It also shows how endearing and genuine guitarist/vocalist Marilyn and bass player Joe -- whom I am volunteering with at this very moment at rock camp!!! -- both happen to be, onstage and off. So enjoy their sunny, distorted, brazen rock stylings on this hazy, dreary, unseasonably chilly hump day.

Hump Day Treat, post-Big She Bang Edition

Last Saturday night at The Big She Bang I fell slightly in love with Des Ark. I couldn't have possibly been the only one; vocalist and guitarist Aimee Argote played her solo acoustic set with an expected mix of warmth, aggression, and candor. The performance was disarmingly informal, and Aimee's easy interaction with her audience was truly a thing of beauty.

You can't see it in this particular video, but Aimee is a talented solo performer whose banter is witty, vulgar, and also gracious. She's so funny and so endearing that she more than gets away with habitually stopping a few bars (or even a few choruses) into her songs in order to tell her stories. Oh, and her songs are kind of miserably beautiful. So fall in love with her for yourself here, on this hump day, and also while Des Ark is on tour in the U.S. and Europe this autumn!

Hump Day Treat, Leos Love Gossip edition

As it happens, I have not one, but two close friends celebrating birthdays today. And in further coincidence, both of these friends are fans of The Gossip. Isn't that totally crazy?! Okay, it isn't really. But still: happy hump-day birthday to my favorite fire signed ladies, Stephanie and Jen!

Hump Day Treat, Happy Accident Edition

Today's video features White Lung, who I sort of saw by accident last Friday at The Acheron (which is literally a story for a different post). Right now they're on a pretty respectable-length west coast tour, so go see them if you can, you won't be disappointed! And even if you can't go see White Lung, enjoy their dark, thrashy, rhythmic take on the punk tradition on this hump day.

Hump Day Treat, global punk feminist fight songs edition

When I'm feeling discouraged or overwhelmed by school stuff (which I have to admit is frequently, lately), The Two Funerals seem to be my go-to, non-chemical uppers. They recently posted this video of them playing an old favorite, "Hit the Ground" and then their contemporary classic, "Western Apathy" at their blog. Watch, be inspired, and then go out and do something awesome; I know that's what happens whenever I listen to TTF.

Hump Day Treat, Missed Show Remorse Edition

I'm still bummed that I had to miss Witches when they came through New York during the last week of April, a.k.a. 'too close to finals for going to shows'. And I'm also bummed over other things, which you might have guessed from yesterday's downer of a post.

So today we have a 2008 three-fer video that somehow has the power to put me in a good mood now matter how overwhelmed or sad I'm feeling. It's a bit long, but stick with it, because each song is better than the last, including the surprisingly good Nirvana cover. (Here's a hint: it was inspired as much by my own family vs career issues as Cherie Currie's, but then that's what usually happens when you're any kind of writer.)



Hear and see more at Witches' new-ish blog, and check out some recently posted summer tour dates. Go see them so I can live vicariously through all of you!

Hump Day Treat, Yes Homo edition

So I'm finally easing back into the blogging game after a much longer than expected hiatus. Today's video is courtesy of Little Victory, a NY quartet that I got to see live for the first time this past Saturday. I fell in love with them, and hope that you will too! Listen and help me celebrate the end of the semester, my first show of the season, the start of Gay Pride Month, and the return of Rock and the Single Girl all at once on this hump day!




AND THEN: be sure to check out Little Victory's facebook page for more songs, videos, photos, and information on their pioneering t-shirt slogans, as well as updates on the band's Pride Weekend activities!

Hump Day Treat, just another manic Wednesday edition

Things have been quiet here for a bit because it's finals season here at my university. It's going to be slow here for a little while, as I'm caught in an end-of-term whirlwind of papers, books, and meetings, so tide yourselves over with this ridiculously appropriate Bangles hit on this hump day.



p.s. Fun fact: I remember getting this album on Christmas morning in 1986, even though I only was three years old. And I remember my mom showing me how to use my Big Bird record player with it. That's right, my mama didn't raise no fool.

p.p.s. It's weird (though not entirely unsurprising) that Prince (yes, the Prince) wrote this song, with its subtly sexist lyrics about not knowing what to wear and not being able to get it together in the morning. But in typical Prince fashion, it's still catchy as hell.

Hump Day Treat: Reader Suggestion Edition

It's the last week of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and I'm surprisingly bummed! Just as with Women's History Month, I've appreciated the opportunity to keep this particular issue at the forefront of my thoughts, mostly because there are just so many issues to tackle. Sometimes, it's comforting to focus on one.

But anyways, today's video was inspired by fellow music journalist and Bad Idea Potluck hostess Bev!

Yesterday Bev asked, "I'd like to know your thoughts on The Raveonettes 'Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)' from their most recent album In and Out of Control. I reviewed the album and wasn't sure what to make of it. [Read Bev's review HERE!!!] It seems straightforwardly anti-rape and yet the tone is so strange that I'm very uncomfortable with it."

Intrigued, and also unfamiliar with the song, I decided to go to the video:

Trigger warning: The lyrics, which are literally spelled out in the video, might be too graphic for some viewers. Please watch with caution.



Even though Bev explicitly mentioned the song's 'strange' tone, I wasn't quite prepared for this. The song is spacey, mellow, and it's written in a major key. It doesn't quite match the thematic content of the song, and I agree that it does cause a certain amount of discomfort.

But that might be the intent. It's possible that The Raveonettes purposely wrote poppy, girl-group sounding music for their apparently anti-rape anthem to bring attention to the way rape is white-washed and ignored. Rape is reduced to a minor crime that doesn't really matter or affect that many people (...kind of the way that girly popular music of various genres is often trivialized and made to seem like it wasn't very influential, huh, funny that), and to sing about rape so airily and peppily mimics that trivialization.

I read the song this way because I think that might sort of be the point of The Raveonettes as an artistic project. When I first heard the band several years ago, I didn't really like them. I understood their use of 'Americana' as a silly gimmick at best, and perhaps cultural appropriation at worst. (This raises the question of whether or not one can 'appropriate' the dominant culture, but I think that's an issue for another blog.)

Now I'm older, wiser, and possess a much better understanding of what it is that artists do. Now, I'm very reluctant to presume that Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner 'don't really get' U.S. '50s and '60s pop culture. Instead, I gather from their work that they're fully aware of what that time period and culture mean, and that they're layering modern, current, lyrics over old school rock and roll and even Motown-y sounds with the goal of problematizing that culture, and the way it's packaged in the present age.

The Raveonettes seem to want to us to ask difficult questions about the rosy Happy Days-type nostalgia that's so big here in the states. So listen, watch, and oblige them on this hump day!

Hump day Treat, Sexual Assault Awareness Edition

Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month continues here in the U.S., and here at Rock and Single Girl, despite unpleasant distractions from beverage companies. Let's turn our attention back to the issue of rape and rape culture with a song that seems to be criminally underknown: "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", by X.

One of the band's classics, the song details a day in the life of a rapist who might also be a sex and drug addict. It compares the act of non-consensual sex to the unequivocally criminal act of mowing a person down with a car (kudos to the songwriters there!). But according to a documentary I saw ages ago, the band stopped playing the song at shows, because they didn't think their audiences understood that they were singing against rape, not in support of it.

But we understand the song, so we can listen and raise our fists in resistance on this hump day.

Hump Day Treat, Spring-y Weather Finally! Edition

So, uh, this hump day treat is super-late because, well, it's really, really nice out. And that's not entirely usual for this town, being sandwiched between a mountain range and a massive lake and all. So, I've been out.

This spring-y, warm, sunny weather reminds of summer in my hometown, and summer in my hometown inevitably makes me wanna listen to my faves, Brooklyn's own Zombie Dogs. I'm excited to report that I came inside a little while ago, turned on the computer, and found this great video of them at the Girl Cave. I don't know what this Girl Cave is, but it sounds awesome. (Despite also sounding like a creepy double entendre.) So enjoy some ZD classics, like "Psycho Gyno", "Flip the Bird", and "Not Your Babe" on this temperate hump day!



Also: Zombie Dogs on Myspace Not gonna lie, I check this for updates like every other nanosecond.

Hump Day Treat, Well Done, Sister Suffragette! Edition

It's the final day of this year's Women's History Month, and I'm a little bit bummed about it. I write about women's history in various forms all year round, yes. But I feel like I've learned a lot about how and why we should document the history and also the present of what girls and women are doing in the past 30 days, and I don't want that to end.

In the past month, this blog has talked about mostly about how important it is to document what we and our activist friends are doing, but we've also touched upon issues of access, and how intersections with race, class, nationality, ethnicity, and other forms of so-called 'Otherness' impede access for some of our sisters (and brothers) in the struggle. The conclusion I've come to after a month of thinking about these issues is that feminist punks really need to look at media, especially mainstream media, and we need to look at how media manages to divide us. Yes, media can connect us, and it's important -- but it can also have a more nefarious role in the production and control of culture.

This is a different discussion for a different day though. Rock and the Single Girl will be back next week to open up that dialogue, but in the meantime, enjoy some punk feminism, courtesy of The Distillers, on this hump day. (p.s.: How much do you love that there is a serious punk song about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony? Big ups to Brody Dalle for even knowing who they are!)



(The audio is not great on this video, so if you would like to hear the studio version, click here)

BONUS JONAS: For anyone else who gets the reference in the title, and who watched Mary Poppins just to sing this song, enjoy a subtitled, sing-along version of "Sister Suffragette"!

Hump Day Treat, Power of Facebook Edition

For all my bitching about the social networking phenomenon, now and then Facebook gifts you with something worth writing home, or a blog, about. Par example: last night I was paging through my 'news feed', and saw that my friend Bri had posted a video by a band called Kitten Forever. She affectionately called them 'bratty grrrl punk', so of course I had to watch:



And then of course, I had to I had to youtube them, and was hence rewarded with a fantastic live video. And of course, I then decided to post it here, for all of you to enjoy. Bratty grrrl punks riding in cars and being awesome on this hump day, and EVERY day!

Hump Day Treat, "Morning" After Edition

Last night in Greenpoint, I had the opportunity to see some excellent bands who are on a short tour at the moment: The Two Funerals of Richmond, VA and Birmingham, AL's P.S. Eliot. Here are some old live videos of both, so you can try and imagine how intensely awesome it was on this sunny hump day.