Emotional Response Records of Cottonwood, AZ has amassed an impressive discography, with the Typical Girls various artists compilations amongst the standouts in the bunch. The focus of these comps is international female-fronted punk, post-punk, darkwave, and indie sounds (a song by The Slits gives the series its title), and the latest volume is out now on vinyl (limited transparent red and classic black) and digital download. As the 16 selections featured on Typical Girls Volume 6 unwind, it’s clear the endeavor is as inspired and unpredictable as ever.
One of the dependable positives in the Typical Girls scenario are the introductions to new bands, and so it remains here, even as The Linda Lindas open Volume 6, with this considerably high profile Los Angeles-based Asian/Latinx band having played on national television at least once. Hearing them on TV, my initial thoughts turned to the Vivian Girls’ brand of post-Ramones action, but their cut “Claudia Kishi” here is securely in the punk tradition of their hometown, and notably their label Epitaph, as the Ramones (and even a little Buzzcocks) are still part of the equation.
Navigating north to Oakland, Fake Fruit offer “No Mutuals,” a decidedly post-punk proposition, as early Wire and Pylon are cited as influences, though I’m also reminded of more recent developments like Slant 6 and Scott and Charlene’s Wedding. Hailing from nearby Berkeley, Naked Roommate bring an electro-punky art-poppy spin to their DIY-ish “Wandering Thumb,” while San Francisco’s Cindy (a band constructed around the voice and guitar of Karina Gill) dish gloriously classique ’60s-imbued keyboard-infused bedroom pop with their “Thin as Flags”
Shifting gears and geographical regions, Melbourne, Australia’s Swab throw down crunched-out hollering hardcore in a late ’80s East Coast USA/ Japanese vein with “Nothing to Lose,” so fans of Deep Wound, Lip Cream, and the pungent aroma of circle pits can rejoice. Swab’s blitz is over right quick, giving way to Greek act Selofan and the robust cold wave of their “Black Box.” From there we return to the USA with Sweeping Promises of Lawrence, Kansas, whose riff-laden art-punky “Falling Forward” sounds like it could’ve came out on Rough Trade in 1979.
Dunedin, New Zealand’s Wet Specimen wrap up side one with the wonderfully bent early ’90s guitar maul of “Abraxas,” and the Ukrainian duo The Glass Beads open the flip with the absinthe-spiked Siouxsie-tinged goth vibes of “Music Box.” Next is Bristol, UK’s Lande Hekt with the rousingly catchy and driving indie pop of “Lola,” and then Body Double returns us to Oakland with “Critter,” another early ’90s indie affair, but wholly non-generic with touches of distinctiveness, e.g. the infusion of keyboard in the track’s early moments.
Provoke keep us in Oakland and return us to hardcore with “Prison Strike,” a song that conjures memories of pursuing the newsprint pages of Maximum Rocknroll during high school homeroom. Returning to the UK, and Sheffield in this instance by way of NYC and Washington, DC, the duo Persona, featuring the guitar and voice of Raquel Vogl and Claire Williams, contributes “Old Man, Young Woman,” a solid slice of minimal experimental poetic pop that resists easy comparisons (though I’ll wager that Mecca Normal fans will cotton to it with haste).
Entering the home stretch, the track by Luu Kurkkuun of Helsinki, Finland is also titled “Luu Kurkkuun,” a gesture that insinuates a return to a hardcore sensibility, especially as the cut is done in a mere minute and 15 seconds. But no: the sound, while raw and raucous, lands pretty securely in the ’90s indie ballpark. Swaggering back to Fresno, CA, Squid Ink’s abrasive and uncompromising “Sundown” is easily the most explicitly Riot Grrl-inspired track on the comp, and Optic Sink from Memphis, Tennessee close the record with the surprisingly and appealingly expansive dark wave/ synth punk of “Landscape.”
As on prior Typical Girls installments, nearly all of the entries here are available on the band’s own releases, from 45s to tapes to CDs to LPs to digital, and easily findable on Bandcamp, as the point of the series isn’t exclusivity, but the sustained potency of the input by women across the contemporary scene. In short, this is yet another vital document loaded with liberating punk energy
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
