Babes in Toyland

Hailing from Minneapolis, Babes in Toyland came out of the same hardcore scene that a few years earlier had produced the Replacements and Husker Du. But Babes in Toyland proved to be a more traditional punk band than either of those predecessors. Babes on Spanking Machine and To Mother (a followup EP) helped inspire the nascent riot grrrl movement perhaps even more than former Babes member Courtney Love's far more successful Hole--though they never participated in it directly. Still, it was a surprise when Babes was signed to a major label. But unlike, say, the major-label debut of the Replacements or Husker Du, Fontanelle -- produced by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo -- finds Babes using the big recording budget to create the trio's most uncompromising effort. Ranaldo does a fantastic job capturing the dissonance in Bjelland's guitar as well as the band's hard-driving rhythm section. On tracks such as "Bruise Violet" and "Handsome and Gretel," Bjelland purrs sweet nothings one minute and howls like a banshee the next. Though angry enough to scare anyone with a dick, Bjelland is never dogmatic on Fontanelle. Instead, she is all feminist rage sans feminism; in short, Fontanelle is great punk rock. The band played Lollapalooza '93 and the UK's Reading Festival multiple years. The critically acclaimed "Nemesisters" was released in '95 with heavy MTV video rotation and some long overdue radio airplay for the band. The band members can still make each other laugh. Hard.