Review :: The Dirty Panties :: I Am A Robot
Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor
The one and only thing that I will say about The Dirty Panties being an all female band is, I usually hate chick singers. Ever since I was a kid they just weren’t my thing. Yes, there was a bit for room for a Joan Jett, Blondie, Pat Benatar, or Heart song here or there, but I never counted those songs among my favorites. Okay, so that is enough to give you a bit of perspective on my frame of mind when I get an album from this female lineup.
Though I 100% believe that punk rock is super gender neutral community, (in the pit a stray foot or fist doesn’t care who gets a black eye) there aren’t that many female punk bands. Lead singer, Melanie Ash’s voice is strong and crooning along the lines of Tilt and The Misfits. She is not afraid to let her voice really soar, these are some of the strongest vocals I have ever heard on an album. As a whole, these tacks are super catchy, but they are also so powerful, due to the heavy bass and drums, and the relentless guitar.
All of the songs on I Am A Robot are full of power, this record commands that you sit the fuck up and listen, yet it is catchy as hell. Each track is so full of energy that it strains the speakers as it infects you. Every time I listen to I Am A Robot, I am fired up.
I cannot pick out a weak track on the whole album, every track has some element that makes it stand out from the others, but the hooky chorus of Wet really grabbed me. The whole song is such a good time, but the line, “The scene is playing like a punk rock girl’s wet dream” is the line that steals the album for me.
Another one of my favorite tracks is, I Am A Robot. It is a slightly weird track, pairing stilted speaking that is just slightly manipulated over bare chords and beats, before breaking out into a full scale belting. It then cuts back into the speaking, this time with more distortion and layering that totally solidifies the feeling of the track.
Pretty In Pink begins strong and infectious and it was immediately one of my personal favorite tracks, but as it progresses backing vocals and layering come in and take the track to another level and puts a great period on to the album.
As all bands their lyrics deal with issues that affect them and interests that they have. The lyrics on I Am A Robot run the gamut for Dirty Panties. Cheers and Wet celebrate having fun and being part of the punk rock scene. Confighted, Take It To The Grave, and I Am A Robot are the relationship songs and Get Off Your Ass addresses our materialistic society. Figment of a Girl and Pretty In Pink discuss what it feels like to be a woman who doesn’t fit into what society says a woman should be.
The Dirty Panties formed in NYC in 2001 in bar (where the best ideas always originate). After a few lineup changes and a move across the country to Vegas where they have been gaining momentum that has culminated in their first full length, I Am a Robot. Also, don’t you just love names that instigate. The ones that teenagers are a bit uncomfortable saying in front of their parents, yet they know they can’t really get in trouble for.
This album is full of such enthusiasm and furry, that I can only imagine how kick ass their live show is. If you live in the Vegas area go check them out, as for me over here on the east coast, I’ll patiently wait for a tour.
The Dirty Panties, I Am a Robot will be out on Squid Hat Records on July 24th. And if you can’t wait until then, head over to the band page section of their facbook page to check out a few of the tracks or the video for Get Off Your Ass.