The mighty L7 have a new album, Scatter the Rats, out next week and the second single from it, Stadium West, is out now. It’s another killer too – one of those driving, riffing, head-bangers that L7 have always done so well, filled with funny, sardonic lines:
Another ugly sentiment has been expressed
Pick up your prescription ‘cos you will be depressed
Scatter the Rats will be the band’s first album in 20 years; a belated follow-up to last century’s Slap Happy. Of course we know that since they returned from their self-imposed hiatus their creative juices have been flowing freely. First, in 2017, they released Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago, their furious Trump takedown in which they play the part of a collective Princess Leia wrapping a chain around the neck of Divisive Donny’s combed-over Jabba the Hutt. Since then they’ve dropped another couple of fine singles, I Came Back To Bitch and Burn Baby, both of which play to the band’s punk/metal/grunge strengths while simultaneously putting a new spin on their established sound.
If getting into their songwriting groove has been easy, getting their new album out has been anything but. Having turned to crowdfunding through PledgeMusic to finance the album, they ended up being one of the bands to allege that the site has stiffed them out of money that fans had intended for them. In a statement to pledgers L7 said:
“We worked really hard on this album and are super proud of it. At a time we should all be celebrating, we instead are dealing with this scam, together, as victims of one of the biggest swindles in rock and roll history.”
The band have been left out of pocket but happily, with the help of their friend Joan Jett and her Blackheart label, the record is now ready for release.
The last words on this latest stage of the return of L7 go to Donita Sparks:
“I think it’s good for people to enjoy a meat-and-potatoes rock band for a change. We’re not rocket science, we’re rock & roll. And there’s value to that, and we do it pretty well. So if you want to rock, come on back to L7.”
Amen to that, sister!
Scatter the Rats will be released on 3rd May on Blackheart Records. L7 start their 2019 US tour at The Glass House in Pamona on 10th May and Stadium West is out now.
