 Bitch
and Animal
"Sour Juice and Rhyme" CD
Righteous
Babe Records
Genres: indie rock, riot grrl
Righteous Babe
P. O. Box 95, Ellicott Station, Buffalo, NY 14205-0095
May 31 - Jun 6 2004 |
Sour Juice and Rhyme is Bitch and Animal's third album,
following a minor debut in 1999 and 2001's Righteous Babe sophomore
effort, Eternally
Hard. While their spunky attitude has remained intact, many
of the songs on this disc explore more accessible, melodic territory.
This album is largely a lyrical affair, with much attention focused
on the kooky, poetic vocals. This often makes the disc more like
a recorded theatrical production than an actually music
release. The melodies aren't always great, but the messages are
loud and vibrant. "Feminist Housewives," for example,
is a somewhat clever, self-explicatory piece of music, though its
repetitive song structure and verbose nature [and seven minute
duration] don't exactly make for repeated listening material.
The most preferable songs on Sour Juice and Rhyme are the
simpler, more accessible ones. "Croquet," for example,
is wonderfully funky and attitude-packed, while acoustic-folk number
"You Left Out" is more of an heart-warmer. Tracks like
"Don't Do Crystal" and "Betty Ford," on the other
hand, are a bit irritating, and won't likely appeal to most audiences.
I'm not against experimentation, nor do I hate politically
motivated, attitude-packed music - but I have a feeling Sour Juice
and Rhyme will only be appreciated by a certain niche. It just isn't accessible
enough to catch on in a big way.
78%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 12 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
