But let's not forget that when Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz decided to turn his band's Epitaph Records into a real label, in 1988, one of the first acts he signed was L7. Then Sub Pop… Read More
released a single and EP by L7 back in 1990, a solid two years before punk "broke." These tastemakers understood early on that in the unfolding punk universe, women would just as likely rule as men. As the band asked on 1994's
Hungry for Stink, "How many times must you be told/There's no place that we don't go?"
On their fifth album, L7 finally usurp punk's throne – The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum is the first time the band seems in perfect sync with the times. Although a key member, bassist Jennifer Finch, has left the band (and been replaced by Gail Greenwood, formerly of Belly), L7 sound bigger and brawnier here, yet somehow crisper and more distinctive than ever before.
Guitarists Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, both of whom write and sing, have matured into punk's distaff Jagger and Richards. The syrupy-voiced Sparks plays the sly but smooth interloper on an inky-dark almost-ballad called "Moonshine"; elsewhere, the saltier Gardner growls through a wickedly brutal "The Masses Are Asses." The two of them pull together a unified sound, firmly anchored by drummer Dee Plakas, equally influenced by the knowing swagger of the early Stooges and the '50s girl groups from whom L7 are constantly borrowing backup-vocal phrasings.
Only op "Lorenza, Giada, Allesandra," an uninventive rip-off of Sonic Youth's "Swimsuit Issue," does The Beauty Process disappoint. It's a minor lapse, considering that L7 pack more fresh stylistic variations on classic punk into 40 minutes than most bands come up with during a career. Clever, cocky and ultimately ageless, The Beauty Process gives punk the face lift it deserves without smoothing the wrinkles. (RS 755)
ALEC FOEGE
