| Le Tigre | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 25, 1999 | |||
| Genre | Dance-punk, riot grrrl, new wave [1] | |||
| Length | 31:44 | |||
| Label | Mr. Lady | |||
| Producer | Chris Stamey, Le Tigre | |||
| Le Tigre chronology | ||||
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| Le Tigre studio album chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Le Tigre | ||||
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Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25,1999 [2] on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.
Le Tigre was formed by Kathleen Hanna,Johanna Fateman,and Sadie Benning. Hanna lived with Fateman while the two were in a band called the Troublemakers. Hanna had collaborated with Benning on a video for "Aerobicide" from Hanna's 1997 album Julie Ruin . [3] The three of them originally planned to come up with a live format for Hanna's songs as Julie Ruin,but they transitioned into making music. [4]
The band constructed songs using inexpensive electronic equipment. Fateman explained that they chose equipment with which they were unfamiliar to show "girl-punk scorn for that particular strain of male expertise associated with electronic music." [5] Le Tigre produced the album with Chris Stamey of the dB's,who helped the band rearrange songs through digital editing. Hanna and Fateman knew the founders of Mr. Lady Records from their time in Portland,Oregon. They chose to release the album through Mr. Lady because of its political engagement. [4] When Benning was unable to tour in support of the album,the band removed them from its lineup and added JD Samson. [6]
Le Tigre's music spans 1960s pop,punk rock,and lo-fi new wave. [7] The band members listened to pop and hip hop music while making it. [8] Le Tigre plays Farfisa organs,samplers,turntables,and guitars on the album. [9] Many of the album's beats were programmed on an Alesis HR-16b drum machine. Fateman stated that she found the use of a drum machine liberating because "it makes you self-sufficient." [8]
The album incorporates the band's political beliefs;Hanna commented that she wanted "to make something that's totally pleasurable and political too." [3] "My My Metrocard" criticizes New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, [10] and "Hot Topic" praises progressive activists. [11] The band emphasized frankness and didacticism in its lyrics as a response to the ironic tone of hipster subculture. [8] Le Tigre's vocals often carry a bored or soft-spoken tone,punctuated by more energetic bursts. [12] Their use of girl group chants was likened to 1960s group the Shangri-Las. [13] Hanna was influenced by the vocals on old records by Lesley Gore,the Shirelles,and Connie Francis. She explained that she was fascinated by "what it would be like to be a woman with way more constraints than we have now,singing these really fucked-up insipid heterosexual love songs." [3]
Opening track "Deceptacon" references Barry Mann's 1961 single "Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)" by asking "Who took the Bomp from the Bompalompalomp?". [14] [15] It denounces a decline in meaningful lyrics in rock music. [16] Hanna expressed frustration that riot grrrl had been transformed into icons like the Spice Girls. [17] The song was popularized by online videos of its "aerobicon" choreography. [8] "Deceptacon" was featured in the 2006 Norwegian film Reprise , the 2003 skateboarding film Yeah Right! , the 2015 documentary film Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot , the 2014 animated film The Book of Life , a Pandora Radio advertisement featuring British virtual band Gorillaz, [18] the fourth episode of the Netflix series Special , the trailer for the 2019 film Between Two Ferns: The Movie , and the 2023 television special Invincible: Atom Eve . The song sparked a collaboration between Le Tigre and Christina Aguilera. [19]
"Hot Topic" was released as the album's only single. It is a list song of people whose work inspired the band. Most are female, and many are also LGBT. The song encourages them to continue on behalf of progressive women. [20] It combines the sounds of doo-wop, Japanese indie pop, and new wave. [21] Hanna described "Hot Topic" as analogous to a college syllabus in its ability to pass on awareness of works to others. [9] The song was used in a Kohl's commercial in 2016. [22]
"What's Yr Take on Cassavetes" uses American filmmaker John Cassavetes to depict the conflict between public figures' work and their personal lives. [17] It opens with a solemn spoken passage asking "how you really feel about it". [13] The song breaks down into a shouting match that labels Cassavetes with positive terms such as "genius" and "messiah" as well as negative ones such as "misogynist" and "alcoholic". [23] [24]
"My My Metrocard" is a song about escapism and exploration. [11] [1] It uses a call-and-response pattern to condemn then-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose policies against quality-of-life crimes the band opposed. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Alternative Press | 4/5 [25] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | A [26] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [27] |
| Melody Maker |  [28] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [16] |
| Rolling Stone | [29] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [30] |
| Select | 4/5 [31] |
| Spin | 9/10 [13] |
Le Tigre received positive reviews from music critics. The Village Voice writer Robert Christgau wrote that "Hanna does the unprecedented—if not, apparently, impossible—and reinvents punk again." [32] AllMusic described Le Tigre as sounding "like the best new wave album not to come from the 1980s." [1] Pitchfork called the album's songwriting "less didactic than Bikini Kill's ... geared for the repeated listens these well-crafted pop songs beg for." [16] Spin said that the album "sparkles with a joie de vivre more bubbly than a pink champagne" and continued that "the sound is as charming as the stories they tell", [13] and the magazine later named it the 10th best album of 2000. [33] PopMatters described Le Tigre as "a record in which bristling punk-pop tunes target listeners with confrontational, thought-provoking messages." [34] Select referred to the album as "12 sparky pop nuggets" and "a righteous gem and one worthy of attention of even the most demanding devotee of big shiny production." [31]
Le Tigre placed 28th on The Village Voice's 2000 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. [35] The album is listed on SPIN 's list of "The 300 Best Albums Of The Past 30 Years (1985-2014)", [36] and in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [37] In 2022, Le Tigre placed 43rd on Pitchfork's list of "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". [38]
All tracks are written by Le Tigre
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Deceptacon" | 3:04 |
| 2. | "Hot Topic" | 3:44 |
| 3. | "What's Yr Take on Cassavetes" | 2:22 |
| 4. | "The The Empty" | 2:04 |
| 5. | "Phanta" | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Eau d'Bedroom Dancing" | 2:55 |
| 7. | "Let's Run" | 2:34 |
| 8. | "My My Metrocard" | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Friendship Station" | 3:04 |
| 10. | "Slideshow at Free University" | 2:48 |
| 11. | "Dude, Yr So Crazy!" | 3:26 |
| 12. | "Les and Ray" | 2:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Hot Topic" (BBC Evening Session) | 3:07 |
| 14. | "Deceptacon" (BBC Evening Session) | 3:09 |
| 15. | "The The Empty" (BBC Evening Session) | 2:02 |
| 16. | "Sweetie" (BBC Evening Session) | 2:43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Hot Topic" (41 Small Stars remix) | |
| 14. | "They Want Us to Make a Symphony Out of the Sound of Women Swallowing Their Own Tongues" | |
| 15. | "Yr Critique" |
The first two bonus tracks listed on the back cover of the reissue have "Hot Topic" then "Deceptacon". These songs are listed in the wrong order, as the song "Deceptacon" is on track 13, and "Hot Topic" is on track 14. This information is matched by the CDDB, but was fixed in the iTunes Store.
Sleater-Kinney is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, following the departure of longtime member Janet Weiss in 2019. Sleater-Kinney originated as part of the riot grrrl movement and has become a key part of the American indie rock scene. The band is also known for its feminist and liberal politics.
Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, and then fronted Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as the Julie Ruin.
Le Tigre is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. They mixed punk's directness and politics with playful samples, eclectic pop, and lo-fi electronics. The group also added multimedia and performance art elements to their live shows, which often featured support from like-minded acts such as the Need.
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[It] was made as Bikini Kill was in breaking up, a guy who worked across the street from my apartment building was stalking me and I was being treated, in my own community, like a historical oddity. The solo record helped me remember that I was just a fucking person who liked being creative.
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Jocelyn Samson, known professionally as JD Samson, is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN.
Mr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr. Lady was "queercore's strongest label."
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The discography of Le Tigre, an American electro–punk band, consists of three studio albums, seven extended plays, four singles, one video album and seven music videos. Le Tigre was formed in 1998 by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning. The band is known for its left-wing sociopolitical lyrics, dealing with issues of feminism and the LGBT community.
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Remix is a remix album by American dance-punk trio Le Tigre. It was released by Mr. Lady Records in 2001 in the United States. It was reissued on August 24, 2004 with a bonus track.
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Mr. Lady is proud to debut their yet to be named release on October 25th.
