Audio By Carbonatix
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No woman is an island. But in 1999, New York-based electropunks Le Tigre suggested one could be, since the DIY dance-punks — fronted by Bikini Kill’s socio-politico riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna — sounded equally idiosyncratic and didactic at the time, their sole peer being Germany’s Chicks on Speed. On Le Tigre’s third full-length, however, the trio merely navigate what has become an established repertoire — hiccupped slogans, hopscotch percussion, and choppy guitar. A neon-speckled sheen is applied to Hanna’s crackly sample clatter; once shambolic and self-produced, she’s now assisted by Nick Sansano (Public Enemy, Sonic Youth) and the Cars’ Ric Ocasek. The resulting This Island is full of ProTooled, depth charged, drum machine-led dance routines that reinforce Le Tigre’s feminist protests.
