While I’m only twenty-eight years old, I often feel too old for punk rock nowadays. I don’t relate to old faves like the Descendents anymore with their endless butt-jokes, and I’m still not sure just how much of Black Flag’s metal-dudes-are-dumb-and-we-hate-them-but-we-are-them-but-no-not-really-but kinda later stance was ironic. I’ll trade political commentary for a good melody any day of the week, so topical tunes never really did it for me, making it next to impossible for me to enjoy the next and almost-as-important wave of punk rock: riot grrl bands. The funny thing about ‘riot grrl’… almost all of the bands normally associated with that genre in the press usually were the first to tell you that they weren’t ‘riot grrl’ in any way. To me, that was always the most punk rock aspect of the scene… how on earth do you have a genre of music when no one will admit to being part of it?

The only gripe I ever had with the riot grrl groups was, well, the message was usually more important to them than the music on the records. I never understood why they didn’t just write pamphlets instead, you know? It’s cheaper, more people will check it out, and you don’t have to charge people for something you probably wouldn’t listen to in your spare time. But, hey, that’s just me. My opinion doesn’t really count towards ‘riot grrl’ as I’m a heterosexual male, and I’m the ‘enemy’ in most of those bands subject matter. Nevermind the fact that none of these gals in these bands would have been born were it not for having heterosexual parents, but again… I’m sure that this reviewer is the one missing the point. Riot grrl also never took into account how many women actively sought out the victim stance that they were singing/screeching about. Not all women want to be saved, and you just can’t do anything about that. Some women are happy being housewives, some enjoy not having much responsibility because the men that surround them think that they are ‘just a girl’ and shouldn’t have much say. Sorry, but the whole point of feminism is giving women the right to fulfill their own destiny. Thanks to this oft-overlooked point and internal friction, the riot grrl scene imploded on itself. A whole slew of musicians from the genre have yet to be heard from since, but thank-whatever-power-you-pray to that Bratmobile’s Allison Wolfe has kept going with her latest group’s new album, Zombie Terrorist.

Always paying equal attention to the melody and ‘the message’, her new group Partyline has just unleashed a pummelling eighteen-minute album full of diatribes, fun and bouncy, focused spunk rock tunes. Sure, the band is railing against George W. Bush, but they also have a mouthful of bile ready for ‘christian fucks’ and pretty much anyone that stands in their way. Fortunately, the record is rife with tasty guitar riffs that aren’t terribly overused and an overwhelming sense of glee, as if the three women in Partyline couldn’t be happier to be playing together, best evidenced in the roll-call of the band members names for the chours of “Nuthaus”.

Zombie Terrorist is a politically charged, pop influenced record that starts, does some damage and leaves before you have a chance to think about what you’re hearing. One of the strongest debut records I’ve heard in a long time, not to mention the best balance of activism and catchy choruses released all year. Maybe I’m not too old to pogo, after all.

Partyline - Trophy Wifey.mp3
Why not check out the official Partyline website?.
Buy Zombie Terrorist from Retard Disco!