L7

Web posted on:
Friday, December 11, 1998 12:05:43 PM EST

From Donna Freydkin
Special to CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- Sometimes it seems that angry female rockers are all the rage these days. From the spiritual rants of teen angst mouthpiece Alanis Morisette to the acrid protests of Tracy Bonham and the self-affirmation anthems of Meredith Brooks, radio is crammed with women proclaiming their independence from mothers, boyfriends and anyone else deemed an emotional burden.

Problem is, most of the pseudo-female rage sounds about as uncontrived as Olestra, concocted specifically to give otherwise fairly flat performers an edge, a hook for heavy radio rotation. Sex sells, but angry sex sells more.

Veteran female rockers L7 wryly call such performers archetypal "PMS fraud rock." And if anyone knows what they're talking about, it's the four abrasive California girls who have spent a decade generating caustic, campy music with a whole lot of attitude.

L7 member Donita Sparks

The L7 reform school of rock could be best described as a biting, tough and yet unfailingly witty one, crammed with songs goading us to free ourselves from diet pills, worthless relationships and stifling conformity. Their music feels real, and maybe that's why they've stuck around this long -- 14 years, to be exact. With songs rife with acidic humor, raw force and a whole lot of attitude, the very ragged, un-cute and anti-MTV L7 was always far more than just another earnest, slick girl-band with a limited shelf-life.

Beneath the garish raccoon eye-makeup and trashy stage garb, L7 remains a capable band that crafts music with heat and heart. Currently in between labels, the band just released its sixth album, "Live: From Omaha to Osaka," a deafening, screeching odyssey of two shows in Nebraska and Japan featuring such gentle ditties as "Death Wish" and "Bitterwine." Part merriment, part scream, the album is the latest offering from a band known at least as much for its political manifestos as its music.

The band's 1992 album "Bricks Are Heavy," released on Slash Records and produced by super-producer Butch Vig, of Nirvana and Sonic Youth fame, remains the L7's best-known release. The single "Pretend We're Dead," by far the most accessible music the band ever put out, called on the disenchanted to "Turn the tables with our unity, they're neither bold nor majority, wake up and smell the coffee or just say no to individuality."

And "S***list" (you fill in the blanks), featured in Oliver Stone's virulent "Natural Born Killers," became the band's anthem, despite the fact that its title prohibited it from being played in most markets.

L7's follow-up release, 1994's "Hungry For Stink," featured the menacing "Anderes" and "Shirley," a tribute to drag racer Shirley Muldowney. MTV virtually ignored the album. 1997's "The Beauty Process" followed.

Sparks

Today, the band finds itself minus both its Slash label and original member Jennifer Finch, who bailed in 1996 and was replaced by Gail Greenwood. L7 singer Donita Sparks took a few moments out of surfing the Internet to chat about their live album, the music business and nonconformity.

Q: What do you think of the women in rock today? They're angry and opinionated, traits you guys pioneered 10 years ago.

Sparks: We don't like many of those singers or very much of their music, because they seem to be very mainstream with a fake edge. They're not from our school of rock.

We're inspired by the things that happen to us and we use music as a venting venue, we try to take something bad and make it good by writing a song about it. When I write in a great mood, the songs are schmaltzy.

Q: Why the live CD at this point, and not a full album of new material?

Sparks: We're between labels right now and it worked out great because we've wanted to put something out an indie label for a long time, and would never have been able to do that if we were with a major studio, which wouldn't allow us to release anything on an indie label. These songs sound great because they are completely live, without a lot of remastering.

Q: How have you guys lasted this long, almost an eternity for an all-female band?

Sparks: We love playing music and writing music. We get along very well. And we're supremely unqualified to do anything else. Plus, we feel we have no other choice but to make music, it's something we have to do.

Q: What motivated you to start Rock for Choice, formed in 1991 with the Feminist Majority Foundation to protect abortion rights?

Sparks: We started it because we were disturbed by what was happening with bombings and such at clinics. We wanted to get it off the ground and walk away from it, which is what we did. And yes, we consider ourselves feminists.

Q: What alarms you most about the music business today? Has it changed for women or not at all?

Sparks: We're really alarmed by the copycat bands we see out there. Record companies want to sign them and that helps drive all of them away. The music business goes in waves, and doors open and close all the time. We feel the door opened with Nirvana, and now it's closed again.

Q: Did record companies ever tell you to tone it down, cut out the attitude and create poppier, more radio-friendly music?

Sparks: We don't know what went on behind closed doors, but no one said anything to our faces. We've always been able to do what we wanted. "Pretend We're Dead," a song we love, is probably as pop as we ever went.

Q: What's ahead for L7?

Sparks: We're in negotiations right now for a new label. In January, we're releasing a single that will be available online only at Atomic Pop. And Nirvana's Krist Novoselic just finished a movie about us called "The Beauty Process."