Bikini Kill
The song “Tell Me So” by Bikini Kill starts off with the playing of a few simple chords and the drums kick in and then the rhythm guitar and vocals come in and make the song come together. Kathleen Hanna starts to sing and the lyrics seem somewhat personal and it appears the Kathleen is angry and wants an answer to some question. Kathleen, along with Tobi, Kathi, and Karren all made powerful noises with their instruments and voices while also trying to make a statement and a movement towards riot girl punk. However, I felt that the whining voice of Kathleen was a little too much and felt as if a cat was screeching instead of actual lyrics coming into play. The song as a whole is only two minutes and twenty one seconds long, it Even if this particular song did not appear to be as punk rock as other songs, it still made an impact on the punk scene and helped a lot of girls find their place in the punk music world.
The Reatards
Jay Reatard was the pioneer of this band and did a majority of the work. The song, “I’m So Gone,” was off of the album Teenage Hate and is only a minute and thirty seconds. The shortness of the song makes it appealing and not so arrogant. The song starts off with a simple catchy riff and Jay screaming go and then the drums kick in and the lyrics just sound like shit but it makes the song complete and totally punk rock. With a few simple lyrics, this song makes the garage punk scene successful and has the attitude of not giving a fuck that punk was so familiar with. The song had a feeling of grime and filth that came with it and made the song sound so great. Overall, the song allowed me to envision the band just sitting around getting fucked up and just playing whatever they wanted to play and shoving it in everybody’s face. The lyrics, drums, and guitar are all pulled off perfectly and this song makes for the perfect garage punk song.
Minutemen
Minutemen’s song, “History Lesson,” is very chill and does not have the harshness that hardcore punk and garage punk have. There is a hint of ska in there and has the go with the flow, fun time, kind of sound. Mike Watt and D.Boon began playing in the late 70’s and early 80’s and soon became a leader in making independent music and not sticking to any labels. With only three main chords, Minutemen made the A, G, and B string sound perfect in this song and gave the view of the band sitting and smoking chilling with each other and jamming on the acoustic just fucking around and realizing that what theyre playing could actually be turned into an actual song. This makes the song so much better and more punk rock because it just goes to show that something that could seem meaningless could have an effect on people and on a genre of music, without the creators fully realizing it. In the end, the lyrics talk about them pretty much just playing music together and expressing their appreciation for punk rock and sharing their views with us. I would most definitely define this song as punk rock
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteNice job with your analysis here. I like how you push the boundaries of what we might consider to be the punk sound, but you do so thoughtfully and carefully. I would recommend two specific to strengthen your analysis even more. One, some more specificity in your analysis, especially with a careful reading of the lyrics. The minutemen song has been of crucial influence on American punk, and this would be a little clearer by reading those lyrics more closely and by following the next recommendation. Two, provide context through research from allmusic and wikipedia (and others if you feel like it).