7 Year Bitch

Formative riot grrrl act had a lot to be pissed off about when making their second album: in the two years preceding this release, original guitarist Stefanie Sargent overdosed, and friend and mentor Mia Zapata was brutally murdered. But rather than dissolving into unchecked venting, the band channeled their anger into eleven focused, ferocious tracks. Named in her honor, the album is a tribute to Zapata, and the fierce, bristling "M.I.A." comes at her killer like a feminist cougar, pummeling him with vocalist Selene Vigil's formidable punk-rock Sprechstimme.

This sophomore outing arrives as a follow-up to Sick 'Em, two years after the death of
guitarist Stefanie Sargent and not very long after 7 Year Bitch were unwittingly proclaimed
progenitors of the riot grrrl movement. But if the pedigree involves more sociology than the
Bitch can comfortably claim, their music is much more streamlined – it's mean, riff- and
bass-driven punk rock with furious vocals. The melodies, when they appear at a... More >