This Island

by

Le Tigre

Edit

This is Le Tigre's first album with a major label (Universal). As such, it will not sound the same as their previous albums, but this one reflects their desire to reach a larger audience. (And what good activist wouldn't want to do that?) I, like many others, was at first turned off by the more polished sound of this album, but after giving it some time and a second listen, I really dig it. The concept of "electronic feminist punk" is as revolutionary as the ideas Hanna, Fateman, and Samson are expressing, and, I have to admit, that sound is better achieved on this album than on any of their previous, as close as Feminist Sweepstakes, self-titled, and From the Desk of Mr. Lady may be to my heart.

Where to start? I've been listening to Le Tigre for several years now and am a fan of Bikini Kill and all the rest. I've always liked Le Tigre's new take on feminist music; atypically sassy but matches intensity with the rest of them. Good stuff.

I don't have a problem with the production like others do. It's slick and that's great. I've never been of the school that seems to decree that simpler is always better. It's high-quality and they were able to push the limits of creativity with all the cash that befell them once they went major label. The low-fi-ness is no longer a crutch for credibility. So in that sense, they probably had to work harder to make a great album.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the real problem here. They seemed to have worked so hard on everything else, they forgot to write good songs. The songs lack soul, which is what I think was Le Tigre's greatest asset. The best of the album is their single, TKO, which is nothing more than a retread of their other anathematic masterpieces on S/T and Feminist Sweepstakes. So they came up with something great, unfortunately, it's the same song they wrote three times before. I first heard JD's little opus live and thought it was slightly annoying, but a groovy tune nonetheless. And again, one of the better songs on This Island is only average compared to the works of art they put out on their two previous full-length albums. I'm So Excited is sort of funny. Reminds my husband and I of when the girls from Saved By the Bell started a group and Jesse was really stressed and on drugs. They sang the same song in the locker room at school and Le Tigre's rendition sounds strikingly similar on the album.

Some of the songs are downright awful. Nanny Nanny Boo Boo sounds like something that a weak, local imitation of Le Tigre would have come up with in 1998. Seriously, that was the best they could come up with? The chorus is reminiscent of the pseudo-feminist crap that we all put up with years ago. And as hard as I try, I just can't wrap my head around Don't Drink Poison. I'm wondering if it's supposed to be "fun" or something. It reads like bad poetry. Further, in principal, I support such a blatantly anti-war message as New Kicks projects, but in practice it just comes off as lazy. They could have come up with so much more new politic (given the current climate) in songwriting than they actually produced here.

In general, the album sounds pretty good but it really lacks intensity and innovation. I'm not ready to give up on them, though. I think they had more money than they knew what to do with and perhaps misdirected it. I hope their next major label effort is generally more focused.