A timeless punk classic that also manages to be as relevant and scathing a social document as Swift's "Modest Proposal". As the world becomes increasingly commercialized and adopts more pornographic sensibilities into the mainstream, the kind of message you hear on 'Penis Envy' becomes even more important as a single dissenting voice among the completely homogenized farcical mass media. A song like 'Systematic Death' is just a perfect microcosm of punk sensibilities and counter-culture attitudes, and Eve's fevered pitch and incomparable edge turn it into a black-hearted anthem of disgust. 'Smother Love' is so quick you might miss it (besides the wonderful bouncing bass), but its a blast of relationship reality from a 'dangerous' viewpoint that you won't find anywhere else. 'Where Next Columbus' is meat of the album; a hyper-literate trip down the nature of self discovery, blatantly incriminating the listener as a vacuous mass for even having the nerve to listen and think and take. The voices you hear on 'Penis Envy' are the voices the system does not want you to hear! It's not hyperbole or paranoia; the messages are so subversive and introspective that they shatter right through the carefully constructed clutter of our roles and touch somewhere deep, if you're willing to let them. This is an especially important album for young women; when 'feminist' has become a label for a singer-songwriter lamenting her lost man, it is absolutely necessary to return to a feminist work that is smart, powerful, fully-formed, and most of all ANGRY! PS. The bass on this album is just incredible. Some of the most inventive and unexpected rhythm playing that comes to mind in the entire genre. Because of this, the album is amazing to just crank up and rock out to, definitely a surprise considering the content. You just wait and see how long it takes before you're humming 'Systematic Death' wherever you go... |
