51. L7, "Wargasm" (1992)

(listen)

L7 really gets it going on the Bricks Are Heavy album and this where it starts, a seething rant whose full intent is clear from the neologism of its title forward. It's January 1991 and all the glory is in front of us. Looking over my list, I guess there's still one song ahead that could be called antiwar, so maybe this isn't technically my favorite of all, but it does put me back in the times, the glorious Iraq War, the good Iraq War, and I think the bristling contempt of it is just right, sounded furiously from inside a noisy maelstrom and drowned out almost perfectly. You can just barely hear it if you turn your head right. The big attack is a real feature, of course—guitars at the ready, ho! Throbbing—they've sure got the sense for metal. But I guess you have to call this is grunge, because it's also deeply sarcastic like punk-rock and gets political about things and impolite and biting when it does so: "Tie a yellow ribbon 'round the amputee / Masturbate watch it on TV / Crocodile tears for the refugee / Wargasm, wargasm one, two, three." Guitar solo. "The Pentagon know how to turn us on," etc. Then one of them starts shrieking like a Yoko Ono sample is introduced. Howzat? Yet it fits perfectly, really works. Never sounded better, in fact. Caterwauling away, with this big bottom going on under it. Spittin' it out, in roaring waves. There's another song on that album that I love for all the menace in its first line and the way it's bitten off: "My diet pill has just worn off." They can be really funny, but here they're just pissed and somehow, the two combine into inspired lines and attitudes and a whale of a fucking time.

Hungry for Stink (1994)

L7 calls this rut a groove and goes with it. The only difference from its immediate predecessor, and kind of a shame into the bargain, is that the mix too often swallows the vocals. But then, the lyrics this time are several clicks of the dial darker: rage about to detonate, the vulnerable followed down dark streets, baggage that drowns, depression gone too far ("the paint chips are kicking in"), and TVs broadcasting personalized messages. "I'm good at feeling bad I'm even better at feeling worse." I suppose it's not really fare for the weak of spirit. But feel it: the punk is punker, the heavy is heavier, and the metal metaller. Don't miss the throbbing cellos on "Can I Run." Those wanting a straight jolt of rock 'n' roll are referred to "Riding With a Movie Star." Headbangers of all stripes, down your antidepressants and start your engines. This one goes all laps.

Bricks Are Heavy (1992)

This is way better than you know, in case you've never heard it. These four gals from Los Angeles were pissed off plus along about the time of the first Iraq War (imagine how they feel now), possessed of all the requisite cool to translate that into music that thunders and breathes pure fire. Because it is so deft and accomplished at pulling together elements of metal (the big big bottom, the sparkling Eddie Van Halen guitar flourishes) with elements of punk (all attitude all the time), and also maybe because Butch Vig helms this one, the label most often applied is "grunge." Well, whatever. Every track here comes on like bulldozers, rife with nifty melody, groovy vocal interplay, sharp biting references, and hilarious lyrical strategies ("My diet pill is wearing off"). A total winner.