Bratmobile has a 'Pottymouth'

[Pottymouth album cover, taken from bandcamp]

Happy Tuesday, everybody! I hope all of you are as excited for Halloween as I am; I have something really neat planned for next week’s blog post (stay tuned until the end for a sneak peek)! In the meantime, today we're going to be talking about Bratmobile’s debut album, Pottymouth. Anyhow, this album features numerous tracks that are roughly one to two minutes in length. Therefore, I will only be discussing the songs I find most important/interesting. 

Retrospectively speaking, Bratmobile has never been commended for their vocal abilities, nor have they a prestigious sense of musical ingenuity. They certainly weren’t seen as musical geniuses, and I’m not saying they should be. Lead singer Allison Wolfe hardly has a powerful voice, let alone a pleasant one, and their instrumentals are extraordinarily simple and averagely executed. Given their subpar quality, Bratmobile managed to spearhead the beginnings of the riot grrrl revolution. Why is that? Well, they were honest, and incredibly so. While they weren’t as outwardly feminist and enthusiastic activists as other riot grrrl bands at the time (I’m looking at you, Bikini Kill), they appealed to a less political type of riot grrrl. It sounds oxymoronic, but I’m going to explain it like this: the original objective of ‘riot grrrl’ was to foster a safe space for women to engage in the male-dominated punk-rock scene of the 90s. I’m assuming we're all familiar with that. However, in its later years, the sentiment was diluted. Women had a space to sing in rock, but as with all music, it wasn’t always the most profound thing in the world. Going back to Bratmobile, they definitely slot right into this archetype. I’d like to say that there’s nothing wrong with making apolitical music; almost all music has no definitive political stance, in fact, that would be absurd if it did. While many may say Bratmobile is riot grrrl, I like to throw around terms like ‘girl grunge’ or ‘female alt-rock’ if they don’t have a particularly firm feminist message. Regardless, once I dive into the lyrics, you’ll understand this sentiment more.

Now, let’s dive in.

—> Cherry Bomb (Cover)

Originally by the 1970s all-female punk band The Runaways, this album features a fuzzy cover of the song Cherry Bomb. It somewhat satirizes the original piece, pairing with Wolfe’s amateur vocals to sound like something a teenage girl would sing to herself while doing her makeup. Selecting to cover the song Cherry Bomb on this album holds intentional significance; were the original made 20 years later, it would have been considered a riot grrrl staple. Bratmobile undoubtedly brings new meaning to the lyrics “Hello, world, I’m your wild girl.” Not to mention the revision of the last verse, they cleverly switch “Hey, street boy, want some style? / Your dead-end dreams don't make you smile,” to “Hey, straight girl, what’s your style? / Your daddy’s dreams don’t make you smile,” bringing another layer of subversion to the ‘girl-next-door’ archetype they speak of earlier in the first verse. Expect more sapphic content in the rest of this album.

—> F*ck Yr. Fans

F*ck Yr. Fans is one of Bratmobile’s many songs criticizing the punk rock scene in Seattle (or adjacent PNW cities) of the 1990s. While it’s debated who in particular this song could be referring to, since feminine titles are used (“Get outta my f*ckin' town / Grew up in this f*ckin' town / You queen of my f*ckin' town”), it could very well be a criticism of the men occupying the punk space when viewed through a feminist lens. It’s short, but the lyrics justify the title of the album.

—> Panik

Here is the lovely sapphic lyricism that was promised to you two songs ago. Panik is another satirical song, flipping the typical ‘cool girl’ trope upon its head. It’s unfortunately not reciprocated, though, unless I’m misreading it. The lyrics go, “She's the straightest girl in town / The one who makes me run / She'll tell me all about her boy /Then let me chew her gum.” I think Bratmobile manages to depict the feeling of wanting a queer relationship with somebody who happens to be straight really well, mainly when being used to divert the listener from the typical ‘cool girl’ attitude Panik expresses. The speaker of the song knows Panik is straight and yet finds herself just as attracted to her as the boys are: “I know you think it's cheesy / But she's so in love with me / She wants to play guitar / And let me suck her blood.” 

—> Cool Schmool  

Cool Schmool is denser than the rest of the songs on this album. It’s around two minutes in length, like the others, but it seems to have more substance imbued within the lyrics. There is no overtly political message in this song that a typical riot grrrl band would typically convey. Instead, it critiques young adult cliques and criticizes their childish, oblivious nature. Bratmobile continues to express their disinterest in male-centric punk rock: “I don't want to sit around and talk about The Wipers / Weren't those the good old days?” signifying their desire for a more inclusive alternative music scene. The majority of the song is to satirize the notion of being “cool,” and comparing those who care too much about what others think to middle school kids with superficial and shallow interests (“I don't want you to tell me what's so cool / I don't want to go back to junior high school / I don't want anyone to tell me how thin I am.”) A point of interest is their criticism of pre-issued female archetypes: “I just want to be one of the boys / I just want to be your little fashion toy.” A common issue every woman has faced at one point or another is the age-old question: “What box are you going to fit into?” Are you going to be ‘one of the boys’ or a ‘little fashion toy’? Riot grrrl, as a subculture, certainly had its problems, but it’s undeniable that it broke traditional female roles and provided women with a so-called “third space” where they could exist beyond the confines of conventional boxes. 

These are the final lyrics of this song, and by far, my favorite. I think we’ve all related to them at some point in our lives.

“See, I don't know why you're always telling me

What's so cool about what I'm wearing

When you can't even tell me how you feel

And, you can't even be my friend for real.”

In these lyrics, they essentially distance themselves from providing more specific commentary on the rock scene. Instead, they take a straightforward, genuine approach to address the performative nature of fake friends.

That’s going to be it for Pottymouth this week. This record features a collection of short songs that lack substantial content, but the themes persist throughout. The childlike imagery and wild sense of self these girls possess, combined with their exceptional use of profanity, blend to explain the name of the record perfectly. Their grungy, simple yet effective nature accurately represents the riot grrrl sound and bands that would later take inspiration from them. 

To conclude, I would like to share with you all that I will be covering the movie Lisa Frankenstein next week in preparation for Halloween. That’s right, Hysteria is covering its first-ever film! Give it a watch if you haven’t—I’d say it fits great into the ‘weird-girl’ movie category. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today’s blog post. 

The next thrilling Halloween blog post will be published at 12:00 p.m. next Tuesday (as always).

Bye for now,

Mila

Sources Used:

https://genius.com/albums/Bratmobile/Pottymouth-cd-version