Bitchin'

by

The Donnas

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In my opinion, The Donnas are one of the best rock bands to emerge within the last 10 years. I've been listening to The Donnas since the late '90s and what I've liked about them most is with each album, they've consistently progressed and developed their sound. With the release of "Gold Medal," while many think it was a "sellout" album or an abandonment of their raw, punk sounding music, I felt that they finally evolved into a solid rock group. They really matured with that album and I was looking for that to carry over into "Bitchin'." This new album is really solid and Alison's guitar is heavier than ever. It melds both their sound from "Spend the Night," with '80s metal/arena rock. However, it doesn't seem like the logical progression one would expect from their last release. They really grew up on "Gold Medal." But this album seems to take a step back. It gives you the impression that when they wrote these songs they specifically set out to sound '80s, rather than just build off the sound that came naturally on "Gold Medal." That being said, it is still classic Donnas and a great listen.

The Donnas have been doin' their thing ever since they were in high school (or maybe before) and they went through a number of name changes, yet they really didn't get a whole lot of acclaim until around 2003, when MTV started playing their video "Take It Off". The album that was on, Spend the Night, didn't impress me because after looking at their previous albums and then that album, they seemed to be continually talking about partying and not much else. The following album Gold Medal was more varied, though. And now they come back at us (albeit on an indie label) with Bitchin'.

Granted, Brett Anderson has never been the most amazing vocalist (in fact, she sounds more like she's talking instead of singing; she's a sight for sore eyes, though), but although the songs aren't filler, they really don't stand out either. The melodies are a little harder, but that's about it. There are some quality tracks though, like "Wasted", "Smoke You Out" and "Better Off Dancing" (but "Girl Talk" is pretty childish).

In the end, Bitchin' is another one of those "it's okay; nothing else to it" releases. I don't think the Donnas will lose any fans with it, but I'm not sure they'll WIN any either (especially since it debuted at #89). But if you already like their style, you shouldn't be mad about picking it up.

Anthony Rupert