Le Tigre
Le Tigre
1999
Album Summary
Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25, 1999 on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.
WikipediaAnother punk/pop punk/post-punk band that I've only ever heard of and never really given a chance. Le Tigre come out of the blocks swinging and don't let up until they've left a trail of destruction in their wake. They've got a Rudy Giuliani protest song that's relevant 21 years later. Best track: Deceptacon
This sounds like it's the best album from a decade that doesn't exist. It's a weird amalgam of 60s, 80s and punk. If you described this to me in any way, it would be all the things I hate about music. And I fucking love it! This should have been much more of a thing, it should have been emulated, started a trend. How did it not?
I was expecting punk screaming but this was a really fun album to listen. A good mix of punk and rock with a bit of electronic. Good for a morning jog!
Le Tigre seems a bit lazy on purpose. I appreciate the punk vibe they are apparently going for, but I always thought specifically of "Hot Topic" as a pop-culture store that tries-hard to be a punk-culture store, and by try-hard I don't mean the good kind. I think it's cool that the band pushes for feminism. But I think they push a bit too much, making it their identity instead of just part of who they are. I think if I had heard this album when I was a teenager I would have liked it a lot more than I do today. Now they sound like an audio STD, and I don't want to hang out with the band. I give it 2/5.
A forgettable, boring ass record from a late to the party girl punk group that brought exactly nothing new or entertaining. 1/5
Great opening track, cool fuzz guitars, like the vocal delivery, lots of interesting sounds and noises worked in to the music, but... pretty repetitive, most songs plod along but don't really go anywhere. Happy to listen to the odd track here and there, but can't imagine ever going back for a full album. (2.7)
Samples, punk, drum machines, women's lib. A few catchy songs. Reminds me of a poor man's Stereolab at times.
The rousing party music of the trio may evoke Sixties' girl-groups, with punchy guitars and dance beats, but in Hannah's mouth it becomes a channel for hard-line feminist ideology. On the surface one hears folk-rock, Motown soul, but each song is a terrible story that leaves deep scars. (6/10) Favourite Track: Deceptacon
Tar mig näppeligen igenom den första halvan av skivan där Deceptaton är det enda som håller mig kvar underhållningsmässigt. De senare spåren på skivan tonar ner det artsy-tonårsrevolt-skrik-härjandet och stämningen övergår till något mer mellow och suggestivt där Beck-inspirerarde Friendship station och Beastie Boys doftande (utan rappen) Slideshow at Free University sticker ut och får mig att lyssna klart till slutet. Vad tar jag då med mig av de här intensiva 34 min. Jo, att den energidrypande fuck you pekande Deceptacon alltid och då menar jag ALLTID kommer vara ett uppskattat inslag under löppasset eller som den avslutande låten på en lyckad förfest
This shit is great. I know I keep giving five stars but this album deserves it too! Its a lot of fun. Great for silly dancing.
the raw weirdness of this electronic rock is super refreshing. “Deceptacon” is such a strong start but I wanted to hear MORE like it. something was missing - I loved it though. I feel like it had some 60s pop & early 80s Brit rock influences wrapped with a modern American sound which was cooollll. the songs were janky but it worked with sometimes simple lyrics paired with rough guitar. very good 😈
Electronic Punk Rock with a message. Great album. I am going to be listening to again and again
this is definitely a perfect punk album for me, it just hits everything flawlessly the production is amazing with all the electronic drums and weird samples Kathleen’s singing and vocals are fucking perfect in every song the writing is also really cool and can get pretty meta and with so many weird, amazing songs like the hilariously literal What’s Yr Take on Cassavetes or the groovy, spoken-word-sample Slideshow at Free University it’s got perfect songs for if you just wanna fuck shit up, like Deceptacon or The the Empty and it’s got perfect songs for if you just wanna vibe out, like Les and Ray or Eau D’bedroom Dancing I don’t have a single issue with this perfect, perfect, punk, new wave, feminist masterpiece - this is an 11 out of 10 I gotta check out Kathleen Hanna’s other stuff
Ktebt 6 Saf7at Men 3l Bouheli Mte3 Dostoevsky, I'm Getting Better. More Opportunities Every Day, Nchallah Romdhan Moubarek
I had received the song “Deceptacon” on a mixtape from a friend in the early 2000s and really liked it. I should have taken the cue to investigate Le Tigre further! This album kicks ass and sounds great doing it! References to Cassavetes?! The main single listing feminist icons?! Fuck Giuliani!? Count me in! Every song on this appealed immediately to me. The lo-fi instruments are magic in their hands. The lyrics seem very personal. I love it! On the first listen this seems to have become my favorite punk album.
I have heard of this band, but was not actually familiar with this album at all. On first listen, I thought that it was interesting. On the second, I thought, I like these ladies. As I did a quick third overview, I decided I really really like Le Tigre.
What a delight this album was. A retro sound of early 80s new wave/punk, itself evoking 1960s pop, with so much brilliance to say in a clever way. Put a big smile on my face.
started listening and was like 'damn this sounds like good Riot Grrl shit!' I wonder if that's mentioned? Then google it and see it's literally Kathleen Hanna and I'd just forgotten. A lot of really great tracks, and the genre and style push it up to a 5. 100% listworthy and a band/movement worth looking more into even if you're not always a fan of the sound.
Love it. I really love this sound. I've been reading a book about Riot Grrrl and Kathleen Hanna so I'm quite invested in the genre at the moment. It's such a raw sound and really feels like people just making music for the sake of music with proper political though and force behind it which I don't think you see as much these days because social media gives a simpler avenue for political opinion.
Oh yeah, the feminist/political lyrics, unusual beats and sounds, vivacious care-free women in the 90s kind of vibe, and the excellent guitar and drums all mix together to make this an album which is firmly rooted right up Denny street haha! Love it! Another new discovery for me and it's reminding me of Wet Leg which is a band I'm currently super excited about, maybe they're an inspiration? Deceptacon feels like Deja vu to me, I've definitely heard this tune somewhere but I don't think I've watched any of the stuff in the feature list so I have no idea where I've heard it.
Niesamowicie mi się podobało. Fajna zabawa muzyką, agresywne wokale, liryka zaangażowana politycznie stanowi bardzo miłą przerwę od setnego albumu o miłości. Zaczęło się z przytupem i potem trochę to straciło - inaczej bym rozłożył piosenki. Ale w gruncie rzeczy o takie albumy w tym challenge'u mi chodzi - coś do czego wrócę, oryginalne w sumie, nie słuchałem wiele podobnych rzeczy.
I love this exact brand of music. Surprised I've never heard of this band before, although I am familiar with some of the names in the riot grrrrl movement but not this one. Absolutely will be checking them out. Also reminds me a ton of Neko Case's first band Maow.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes!!! This is one of my all-time favourite albums ever!!! Kathleen Hanna is THE 90s badass feminist hero I needed. I love the aggressively screeching vocal tones she brings to her performances and I also love the soft vulnerable side she shows. Women are strong powerful beings and we’re unstoppable when we’re given space to speak our minds freely and exist in a respected space. She has such a unique perspective and communicates it so unapologetically. I love every minute of this album: it gives you a killer in your face balls to the walls opener with Deceptacon, then takes you through a winding and frenetic feminist journey celebrating pride, iconic women, New York, and art that culminates with an impassioned moment of gratitude for music and people who make a difference in our lives with Les and Ray. I love the way that song sounds and the genuine appreciation for divergent lifestyles and alternative pathways that it expresses. It fucking rocks so fucking hard! It’s so wildly and daringly different from everything else that was on the market in 1999 and I salute it.
I had always heard of Le Tigre but had never heard them. Great album! Very ahead of their time.
Saw them back around 2002 in St Louis. Fun show. I like the punk energy combined with the minimal synth and samples. This music is like a Kind bar where it's sorta healthy but it's really just a candy bar.
Electro punk feminist- I quite enjoyed it. I couldn’t decide if it was trying to be edgy or actually was edgy. But still a lot of fun
How in the living shit did I miss this when it was released in 1999? I mean if an album shouts out Sleater-Kinney, Billie Jean King and James Baldwin in one song, discusses Cassavetes in another, and calls Rudy Giuliani a fucking idiot in yet another, then yeah that’s an album that deserves to be on this list.
The music is good, but the lyrics are a little bit too ironic and inscrutable for me to really get into. Highlight of the album for me is "Slideshow at Free University".
Inspired in places, boring in others. The satirical stuff mostly lands, but the bits that don't have aged like milk. However, some of the music is great - 'Deceptacon' is nothing short of brilliant, whilst 'What's Yr Take On Cassavetes' is a real hoot.
"Wanna disco? Wanna see me disco? Let me hear you depoliticize my rhyme" (Deceptacon) "All that glitters is not gold I went to your concert and I didn't feel anything (is not gold)" (The the empty) Somos la víscera el puñetazo la hemorragia etc.
28th May 2021 Listened on the car on the drive back home. Surprised at how much I enjoyed it, lots of punk, prog influences and a bit of electro thrown in too. Good fun.
Never heard of them, but then again, the late 90's / early 00's newer music and Riot Grl were not my focus. I dig it, love the quirky lyrics and the different sounds they came up with. Very much a They Might Be Giants meet early Beastie Boys vibe. I'm glad I discovered this (new to me) band. Is Le Tigre an album I must hear? Maybe? Does it belong on this list? Would give 3.5 - 3.75 but will round up to a 4.0 for this one.
a rounded up 3.5 (I'd say 3.75 but I'm not about to get into .25s). super grungy which I of course like.
Girl Punk! YaY! like an early Bombpops kind of sound. Almost hypnotic looping on Hot Topic. One of the founders was in Bikini Kill, so that explains the similarities in sound. The The Empty is great. Artist at Free University is also great. this will need another spin to say if it is a 4 or a 5 in my book.
The debut album of Le Tigre has a definitive sound with essences of; grunge Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 80s pop, with 60s fashion and feels like the start of something bigger. The starting track “Deceptacon” has the quirkiness of The Bangles and with synth driving grunge beats. The album has highlight tracks that keep me coming back; “The The Empty”, “Eau D’ Bedroom Dancing”, “Les and Ray”. With many highlights there are a few slight misses. The album has concept pieces and some work better than others, “Phanta” the beat needs more of an evolution and becomes stagnant, where as “Slideshow At Free University” is a spoken word concept piece but feels rounded and formed. There are 90s essences for sure in this record that can be heard in “Dude Yr So Crazy” and “Friendship Station” with beats and over vocals. Overall: This record has some 5/5 songs and leads to an overall score of 4.5/5 stars. Great record.
4.0 - It’s got a boppy Go-Go’s vibe that’s been put through the DIY-bedroom recording blender. Add a dash of pink chainsaw to the mix. Fun!
Man the first three songs of this album are stellar. I love the Cassavetes tune...in fact all of side one is great. Side two slows down the pace of great songs unfortanetely keeping this fine album from a full 4 star rating from me. 3.75 stars
Some of the stuff on the back half of the album really surprised me. A lot of it probably went over my head. 7/10
Ok this is right up my alley...probably gonna get an unfair rating in the positive direction for that. Great energy throughout. Im sure the lyrics are also great, but I haven't had time to absorb them, though I have caught glimpses of deeper meanings.
Really enjoyed it, many deja vu feelings of love/hate/funny that punk rock gave me. Never heard them before.
Wow. The first 3 songs are sooo good. Clever, catchy and they rock like he'll. Can't help but drop off from there but it's not like it comes to a screeching halt there's plenty of other great songs to help carry us to the end. Kathleen Hanna is an American treasure. 4.5 🌟
A pleasant surprise. I didn't anyone was still making fun dance punk songs in the late 90s. It's artsy with New Wave-esque synth weirdness and a fuzzy guitar. Love the dynamic female vocals. I need to check out that riot grrrl playlist Spotify has.
I don't know why but to me this sounds like a more punky and aggressive version of the B52's, specifically their debut album. Has that similar singular riffing guitar with the bright yet mechanic keyboards and drums backing it up in a fair chunk of the songs, especially Deceptacon, Phanta, and My My Metrocard. Although you do get the more serious lyrics instead of partying with rock lobsters. Aside from comparisons and the differences in lyrics, Le Tigre stands out on its own too. There's the 90s flair and horns in Hot Topic, the previously mentioned punky tones in The the Empty, the 80s new wave feel in Eau D'bedroom Dancing, and even hip hop beats in Slideshow at Free University. I'd say I liked 7 or 8 songs on this album a lot, and the rest either sounded like repeats or were just meh.
Another surprise. Never heard of this band, but really enjoyed listening. Infectious post-punk from what sounds like an all female group. Very likeable.
The riot grrrl evolution into dance punk just works so well. Excellent and fun record. My only takeaway is that the vocals do edge on annoying after a while.
WHO TOOK THE BOMP FROM THE BOMPALOMPALOMP, WHO TOOK THE RAM FROM THE RAMALAMADINGDANG!? Love Le Tigre. Love this album.
Likably DIY and attitudinal. “Hot Topic” is a highlight, one of the awesomer pop tunes of the late ‘90s – all politically/socially aware songs should be this danceable. “Eau d’Bedroom Dancing” is good fun, too and the last few tracks are engaging, too. Solid, fun and interesting – a rare trifecta for pop bands to pull off, especially second acts and side projects.
Absolutely loved this. Have no recollection of hearing them before. Can’t believe this isn’t more famous. Very good. Will listen again.
Their music has lots of attitude and lyrics have edge. No girly band shit going on here.
I liked this a lot! Original, creative, and fun. I loved the production - each instrument stood out on its own yet also contributed to a unified whole (if that makes any sense at all). Definitely will listen again and explore Le Tigre's other work. 4 stars.
интересному движению принадлежит группа, тексты забавные и колкие, но музыкально скучновато. песни либо забываются сразу, либо заедают и начинают раздражать (как с открывающий треком, который завирусился в тик токе). но это можно считать фишкой жанра - такой любительский диайвай панк-рок. еще послушаю, что делала группа после дебюта.
This seemed much older than 1999. I would have pegged the music style as from the 80’s. Fun and high energy songs.
Minus the group sex album, I'm on a streak of pretty good albums including quite a few that I've never heard of. This was a good female-led, neo-punk album and the first track was especially good.
Fan of Deceptacon. The rest is lots of repetition and less substance than I expected from Bikini Kill alumnae.
The riot grrrl thing kind of missed me. It’s an interesting take on punk. “What’s Yr Take On Cassavetes?” Is pretty funny. Probably won’t listen to this again, though.
I really enjoy the instrumentals for this album, but the vocals are too weird for me. It's definitely unique, I'll give it that.
No expectations before listening- I’d never heard anything of them. Enjoyed it. Sometimes came close to being too clever but overall a good listen
Poppy. Fun. Girly. Some of it's a little on the nose like Hot Topic. Some's a little art pop/faux deep like Dude Yr So Crazy. The first track slaps and I guess one of these girls coined the phrase "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I like it.
fast and good, but I felt it was longer tham 33 minutes and its a bit claustrophobic at times
I was expecting to like this a lot more. There were some good songs, but overall it was just okay.
Sell-out hypocrites who knew the right people in NY. Later songs on album not very good. But, maybe the closest thing to “punk” on this list for this time near the turn of the millennium.
Good vocals. Bit of a mix of rather strong songs (Deceptacon, What's Yr Take on Cassavetes, The the Empty, etc) and some boring ones I'd like to cut that remind me of the pop punk melodies I'd rather forget (Hot Topic, Phanta, etc). Sounds weirdly crowdpleasing for something attacking social norms, but I didn't have a bad time.
interesting blend of that late 90s/early 00s electronica/sampled and vaguely subversive punk. There are definitely better examples of both, but it's not a bad album. Slideshow at Free University was probably my favorite. it was also instrumental/largely sampled which says something probably
1) Deceptacon 4* 2) Hot Topic 3* 3) What's YR Take On Cassavetes? 3* 4) The The Empty 4* 5) Phanta 3* 6) Eau D' Bedroom Dancing 3* 7) Let's Run 4* 8) My My Metrocard 4* 9) Friendship Station 3* 10) Slideshow At Free University 3* 11) Dude Yr So Crazy!! 3* 12) Les and Ray 3*
First listen and I have no prior knowledge of this band or their music. Le Tigre has some elements that remind me of other things (¿from the 90s?) that I have listened to, but I'm not quite sure what. ¿Luscious Jackson? ¿Veruca Salt? ¿Utah Phillips? The album was fine.
very enjoyable, very indie sound, maybe kinda like Sleater Kinney?... Would listen again.
I liked how tight this pop punk, electroclash album was. It's production masks how crazy political it is but it quickly comes to the forefront as you listen to it more. It's still very fun though, just never hits that exact spark that would fuel it into the pop punk stuff I've always loved.
Hämmentävä levy ja täysin uusi tuttavuus. Paikoitellen ihan vekkulia menoa ja uppoutu täysillä musaan sisään. Loppua kohti tunnelma lässähti
Fun album, good energy. I kinda lost interest about 2/3 of the way through but overall enjoyed it!
Overall not a fan of it but that is personal preference. Not my type of music except for eau d'bedroom dancing, was quite nice, along with phanta and deceptacon. Rest were ok but not for me
Not my kind of thing, but probably not meant to be. Some interesting ideas, musically ad lyrically, but feels a bit unfinished. Not terrible, but not great. The ind of songs you would hear on BBC 6music, and then something better would come along.
5/10 had a couple good tracks and interesting ideas (deceptacon is great) but overall not a great listen
I know of Le Tigre through Kathleen Hanna/Bikini Kill as well as the Nofx connection in Deceptacon. I've never really listened though. Not too bad.
strong opening, really liked the first track but, wasn't really keen on the follow-ups, it wasn't bad, but it didn't really add anything else.
Disc divertit, fresc, reivindicatiu, de vegades iconoclasta, presoner del seu temps, però que continua tenint el seu punt en temes com 'Deceptacon', 'Eau d'Bedroom Dancing' o la divertida 'What's Yr Take on Cassavetes'. Et torna a 1999 i et fa moure els peus, i el cap... poc més es pot demanar
Kinda sweet like the great girl bands of the 80s like the Bagles and the GoGos, but with a sailor language variant
Nice female fronted punk. Reminds me of a slightly more modern Souxsie and the Banshees