It took me a month to come up with another female-led band or artist that merited posting about. There's plenty of volume out there, but... Cat Power? Not really a fan. Sleater-Kinney? No surprise to the choice. Feist? Metric? Maybe... But then it hit me; I love Elizabeth Elmore.
I was big fan of her band Sarge when it was around (when? The ambiguous 90s?). I bought Charcoal, and here was a band that stood up, and above, the indie/pop punk stuff I was listening to at the time. Sarge was really charming, and while some may dismiss them as Liz Phair-lite, I thought Elmore's lyrics were very genuine, not the eager-to-please romantic vision or rebellion of most pop-punk. They didn't offer easy answers, and just when they veered toward what you expect, Elmore would change course.
Well, turns out she changed course completely, went to law school (I vaguely remember her solo career had some connection with Bob Nanna), but is today as silver-tongued and sophisticated as ever. The Reputation have dropped the trappings of punk (although not the label - they're on Lookout! Records) and now make polished pop rock. At 15, that prospect would have made me gag, but at 25 I can appreciate "Face It" as much as I once appreciated "Dear Josie, Love Robyn."
You can download "Face It" from The Reputation's second album "to force a fate." at Lookout!'s website. Also, I swear I didn't read Lookout!'s Reputation bio before I wrote this little recollection.
Image from Bandphotography.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment