The Living Rockumentary

Time to bite the hand that feeds us. Or nibble it a little. I was looking over the acts slated to play the new Boston Pop Underground Series at the Lizard Lounge (of which we are very happy to be a part of) and feeling like something's missing. The venue is a great choice; the promoter is incredibly enthusiastic and the bands, at least the ones I know, are superb. But where are the girls? Of the bands scheduled to appear, I only see one, Bishop Allen, who has mixed-gender makeup, and their female bassist isn't a primary songwriter.

I find this sad for two reasons. One, 'pop' - as in the Raspberries/Big Star/Beatles-influenced flavor - has become mind-numbingly boring. I attribute this to the fact that most of the bands who performed at the various IPOs consisted of white, late-twentysomething males (87% of which work at a record store). All the bands bow at the alter of Pet Sounds. All the bands write songs about girls. All the bands have sugar-coated melodies that are bad for your teeth. It's as if they all bought the kit on how to be a pop band and are afraid to throw away the instructions.

But my real gripe with the IPOs, and the new Boston series in particular, is the lack of female-fronted bands. Boston bands in the late-'80s/'90s produced some of my favorite cds: Tribe, Throwing Muses, Belly, Juliana Hatfield, The Breeders, Letters To Cleo, Jen Trynin, Star Ghost Dog, Jules Verdone, and more recently, 27, among others. The city seemed to be very supportive of girls with guitars. And I found the music was often more interesting than what their male counterparts were writing. The Muses, for instance, wrote some incredibly complex pop structures that are still really exciting to listen to.

Maybe there aren't any good girl bands in Boston anymore? I can't imagine that's the case, in a city of colleges that's known for music. Stand up women and be heard! Overthrow the pop!!