This Island Rocks

The 00’s is a time of genre crossing, splicing all kinds of different music. The album This Island by Le Tigre is a splendid display of the best qualities of nearly 20 years of music. Kathleen Hanna, (ex-Bikini Kill, still Riot Grrl) lends her 80’s punk rock voice to new wave pop beats, mixing with grungy 90’s guitar and 00’s edits and samples to create a intense fusion of sounds. Le Tigre takes elements of ground-breaking styles from previous decades and shuffles them together in an artful way.Most of the work for This Island was done in the mixing studio as the majority of the album is samples and electronic instrumentals laced together in a complex tapestry of punker fury. For example, in the political track “New Kicks”, excerpts from protest speeches from such celebrities as Susan Sarandon and Al Sharpton and anti-war chants like “No blood for oil” are amalgamated with a toe-tapping dance beat. These were pre-recorded sound clips which were turned into a feasible song with the aid of a good beat and musical ingenuity.

The addition of Hanna’s sing-speak vocals to the electronic adaptation of the Pointer Sisters’ 1982 pop classic “I’m So Excited” makes the aforementioned 80’s new wave pop beats even more edgy. The sassy lyrics fit smartly in with the rest of the album, no less aggressive than any of the other songs which are both feminist and sexy. Hanna seems to have found her niche in music. She is bringing her views to a wider audience, some of which would not usually be called punk advocates. Le Tigre is “feminist punk” with style and teeth.