Dirty Little Rabbits - Dirty Little Rabbits
Rating
RIYL
ScarlingPretty Girls Make Graves
Fleming and John
Die So Fluid
Release Date
07/06/2010
Label
The End RecordsTracklist
1. Simon2. You Say
3. Put It In The Rock
4. Hello
5. Happy
6. I Love You
7. Professional Hit
8. If
9. Leave Me Alone
10. The Didn'ts
11. Rabbit Holes
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Being a side project of one of Slipknot’s percussionists, Shawn “Clown” Crahan, there are two pretty distinct approaches to writing a competent review of Dirty Little Rabbits’ debut self-titled full-length. I can either treat the band as a side-project or as its own living, breathing, independent entity. I’m finding it impossible to meld these two approaches together, so I’m going to write both.
Duuuude! Fuckin’ Clown is in another band! They’re fucking awesome dude. Remember his last band To My Surprise? Yeah, I know they were terrible dude, but this new band is pretty awesome. I mean like, it’s nothing like Slipknot. Not even close to metal. It’s this weird electro indie old Yeah Yeah Yeahs kinda shit with girl vocals. Oh yeah and there’s like this organ and stuff. But the single, “Professional Hit?” Yeah man, sounds just like Rage Against the Machine dude. And c’mon dude, Clown’s drumming! He tears up the set man. Tears it UP! RIYL Slipknot, To My Surprise and Shawn Crahan, boyyyy! Check that shit out, maggots!
Okay. That’s out of my system.
Whenever I tell someone new about Dirty Little Rabbits, I can honestly only ever seem to muster the words, “They’re certainly… something.” At times the Rabbits pick up the torch where riot grrrl acts like Bikini Kill and Le Tigre left off, with vocalist Stella Katsoudas snarling, shrieking and shouting over simple, driving tracks. Other times the Rabbits embrace a quirky brand of hook-driven alt-rock that in an instant, thanks to Michal Pfaff’s haunting organ, can transform a lush and fun pop rock song into a perverse and jangly carousel tune one would hear at a shady, run-down carnival. Somewhat of an anomaly, “If” is a quiet, brooding track laced with piano and beautiful vocal melodies. And, like my “other” review said, sometimes the Rabbits even sound like Rage Against the Machine—heavy, groovy guitar riffs and all.
Katsoudas, who has released several full-length albums under the name Stella Soleil, delivers a stand-out performance throughout all eleven tracks of Dirty Little Rabbits. Over a decade ago, the first time he saw Katsoudas perform, Crahan was struck by her “willingness to share her inner pain with the world.” It only takes one listen to the band’s lead single, “Professional Hit,” to understand precisely what he means. Every last lyric is delivered absolutely dripping with passion. Katsoudas seamlessly transitions from wavering and warbling vulnerability – voice cracking, notes all over the scale – to a powerful display of bitter, teeth-gnashing, throat-stripping aggression. The control exhibited over her voice when she delivers the line, “I loved you. I looked for you,” is dashed to bits during the next lines, “Boy, you sure did make a mess! You punk! You sunk me while smoking a cigarette. Wait! What did I miss? A 24 hour twist? No, it was a professional hit! WOW!” Upon shrieking out the final line, “It was a professional hit!” she gasps for breath and murmurs, “Oh, God…” and it doesn’t reek of histrionics—it feels as though Katsoudas has just heaved all of her demons and skeletons and pain and rejection out of her chest in a four-minute spastic fit.
The same kind of inspired performance can’t be said for the remaining four members, however. Even Crahan, an accomplished and talented percussionist who does great work with Slipknot, never seems to be thinking too far out of the box when crafting his back beats. Pfaff’s organ adds an interesting element of unsettling atmosphere to many of the tracks, but it’s quite apparent that a majority of the instrumentation is more of a vehicle for conveying Katsoudas’ mind-boggling vocal range and multitude of deliveries. In a sense, Dirty Little Rabbits sound both tired and hackneyed as well as fresh and interesting, all at the same time.
One thing’s for sure, however, you won’t find another band that sounds anything like this. This album is worth a spin just to revel in Katsoudas’ impressive vocal talent. But I don’t want to reduce the album to something less than it is. If you’re a fan of angsty, female-fronted alt-rock and post-punk, definitely check this album out. At the very least, spend the $0.99 and download “If,” an amazing song regardless of your taste in music.
--Zach Roth
Comments
Baton Rouge
Fleming and John? I will have to check this out then.
Boobs
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Haha. Please don't go into this expecting F&J. My RIYLs are tenuous at best. Just keep an open mind.
"This is our night. The look in your eyes says we can go all the way. I'm losing my mind, broken inside, I want you to take my breath away. It's obvious that my heart beats for you...
Translation: "I'mma do you so good tonight, and I'm gonna make vague references to love to coax your pants off."