The Donnas: still bitchin' after all these years
(Credit: Neil Zlozower)
Way back in
hazy mid-’70s L.A., all-girl rock band the Runaways hit the American
concert circuit with a vengeance, proving yet again that ladies can bang out
big guitar riffs just as well as the boys. But being decades ahead of their time
quickly took its toll, and after only a couple of albums and one genuine
classic rock song in “Cherry Bomb,” the band splintered apart, with guitarists
Lita Ford and Joan Jett going on to extremely successful solo careers. But
their legacy lives on, and no band exacts their posthumous revenge more than
the Donnas.
Forming
towards the end of their high school days in Palo Alto, Calif., the Donnas have continued to churn out
no-frills, all-thrills rock ‘n’ roll over 10 years and seven albums. Their
most recent effort, "Bitchin'," is a proud return to indie status, released on
the band’s own Purple Feather label. Like their heroes the Ramones, they’re
still cranking out party-time rock anthems heavy on teen imagery (it’s not difficult
to glean the meaning behind songs like “Smoke You Out”). The ladies invoke Joan
Jett on “Don’t Wait Up For Me,” subtly reinventing the riff to Jett’s cover of
Gary Glitter’s “Do You Wanna Touch
Me.” But the majority of the album rumbles with the
energy of late-’80s hair metal like Ratt, Poison and early Motley Crue.
The Donnas
are like a female KISS that was smart enough not to release a pandering,
career-stalling track like “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (even though in
retrospect that song is kind of sweet). So don’t hold your breath for the
Donnas to ever record a dance track; they’re too busy mining the bottomless pit
of metal history for inspiration. But they still know how to have fun. The band
recently covered a rocked-out version of Men Without Hats’ ’80s New Wave
nugget “Safety Dance” that’s criminally unreleased. Slap together a fun video,
and they could very well have the breakout single that’s eluded them all
these years. We’re sure their legions of diehard followers love them for
keeping it real and saving the tune for fan club members and live shows.
Somewhere
Joan Jett, Lita Ford and the rest of the Runaways (R.I.P. Sandy West) are
smiling.
Scott T. Sterling is Music editor
for Metromix Los Angeles.
