The Splinters Cool

After listening to The Splinters it's difficult not to immediately rush to comparisons with Riot Grrrl acts like Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, or Le Tigre. And while this East Bay group is composed of four energetic ladies rocking out, the comparisons probably ought to stop there. The Splinters remind me more of The Ramones than anything else"”the music is stripped down and easy to play, with sincere and uncomplicated sing-along lyrics. While there are occasional flashes of anger"”in the song "˜Oranges' the girls sing "Why don't you just fuck off" in unison"”the music is at its core happy and fun.

I hesitate to describe what The Splinters play as punk"”it's just too darn cute to really be anything but pop music. But it's pop music at its very most earnest, like a Kimya Dawson with jangly guitars and the unremitting clamor of a tambourine.

The lyrics are definitely girly, but there's no overt third-wave feminism message or Powder Puff Girl pride in the vagina. Of course, it's likely because of those 90's girl groups that The Splinters feel more or less comfortable playing rock and roll in what's still largely, and unfortunately, a man's world.

Word has it that Oakland will be losing these UC Berkeley graduates soon as they journey to the Big Apple to make it in the world. I wish them the best, but their music, attitude, and aesthetic is so perfectly Left Coast, laid back, rocker girl, that I'm unsure how well it'll fit in the Holy Land of indie rock (or overhyped cesspool of indie rock, depending on how you look at it) out in Alphabet City. Kick was released last month on Bay Area record label Double Negative and are playing soon at a venue near you (assuming you live in San Francisco).