Do You Remember? #6
There are so many reasons that Washington D.C.-based Slant 6 - and in particular their first full length release Soda Pop * Rip Off - keeps rattling around that part of my brain reserved for sentimental music favorites. First there is the band’s name. Slant 6 was named for a six cylinder engine made by Dodge in the 1960s and 1970s. (Speaking of nostalgia it is surprising that as Detroit rolls on with its auto making comeback and so many American car companies reintroduce their classic muscle cars, that Dodge doesn’t produce a special edition charger with a slant 6.) The band’s lineage also justifies a fond recall of Slant 6 since guitarist and vocalist Christina Billotte was a former member of the seminal all female band Autoclave. Future Helium lead singer and solo artist Mary Timony was an Autoclave band mate.
The three women line-up of Slant 6 recorded for one of those great small/regional independent record labels so prevalent in the 1990s. Sub Pop would probably be the gold standard in terms of commercial success because of their early work with Nirvana. Due to sales and label consolidations Sub Pop has since ceased being a truly independent label. The Pacific Northwest also gave us CZ records who gave bands like the Gits and 7 Year Bitch an outlet for their recordings. Currently CZ only offers very itinerant releases. Portland’s Kill Rock Stars is still going strong though they have not repeated the high visibility their relationship with riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear earned them. In the Midwest, though originally founded in Washington State, there was Amphetamine Reptile records featuring artists such as The Cows, Hammerhead, and Janitor Joe. Unfortunately AmRep today offers very infrequent releases. Simple Machines was founded in Arlington, Virginia and offered bands like Lois and Scrawl a place to record. All of these labels and the countless others not mentioned shared punk’s “do it yourself “(DIY) ethic. Perhaps the regional label that is the biggest standout in this regard is DC’s Dischord Records. They produced their albums in-house and distributed their recordings without the help of large distribution channels. Happily Dischord is still standing today. Slant 6 was a Dischord artist.
Slant 6 has widely been considered a riot grrrl band, though that may be more a consequence of the fore mentioned DIY ethic as well as gender and era. This band was far less political and not really the embodiment of riot grrrl postmodern-feminist values the way bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile or Heavens to Betsey were. It is probably more correct to consider this band as a sort of musical hybrid combining elements of foxcore, surf punk, pop, new wave, rock, and DC hardcore. On this record you can hear shades of everything from the Ramones to L7 to The Buzzcocks to Kim Gordon. Seemingly the biggest debt of influence gratitude however belongs to Penelope Houston and her work with the Avengers. Likely it is all of this variety that results in a record that still sounds fresh today.
Soda Pop * Rip Off is heavy on short, upbeat tracks. Amazingly the release containing 16 tracks comes in at just over 30 minutes. This is a straight forward rock record, generally featuring your traditional line up of guitar, bass and drums. While musically sparse, the sound is still up-tempo; big as well as raw and powerful. The songs are melodic and catchy. Soda Pop * Rip Off has that frenetic almost urgent sound that makes punk pop great. Simplicity also reigns lyrically. This musical directness lead to an album without any standout tracks but also lacking any stinkers. In my experience, each track at one time or another has been a personal favorite.
Soda Pop * Rip Off was basically a collection of 7-inch releases and other separate recording sessions. More or less this is a compilation record. However for me it works better than their later album, Inzombia. That record tried to be a bit of a concept album with a nod to B-movies. The problem with Inzombia is it goes off the rails a little bit with the overly goofy ‘Retro Duck’ and extended jam title track. It also offers fewer songs than the earlier release. Soda Pop * Rip Off on the other hand finally brings to fruition the promise of an all-girl band playing rock and rebellion to its hilt, offered us by The Runaways so many years earlier. This is particularly evident with the fast moving, down stroking guitar on tracks like ‘What Kind of Monster Are You’ and ‘Night X 9’.
Another fantastic aspect of this album is while it offers straight forward rock riffs; they are not so simple and fundamental that you feel like you have heard then over and over before. Instead it is a fresh twist on classic punk pop, particularly evident musically on ‘Love Shock’ and ‘Invisible Footsteps’. Lyrically Soda Pop * Rip Off is uncomplicated but still effective in conveying whatever the theme of the song may be. The fed up lover on ‘Time Expired’ expresses with ease that things are over: “Time expired, violation. Your presence is a real invasion.”
In so many ways Soda Pop * Rip Off is the perfect record. If you have a short attention span the quick hit of short, sharp Soda Pop tunes will keep you interested. Also the punk simplicity makes it a sound choice if you are looking for background noise. On the other hand if you need to gear up for a fantastic night of partying the feverish pace found on each track will certainly put you in the mood. This record definitely deserves to be remembered and played in heavy rotation. It certainly makes me long for a time in the early-mid 90s when girls picked up guitars in droves, applied a DIY vibe, and really rocked.
