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Gussied-up Donnas make metal their new master.

The Donnas - Bitchin’
Alternative Press - Rachel Lux on 1/16/08 @ 3:47 PM - altpress.com

[4/5] From the gleaming retro-'80s Donnas logo to the leather-clad ass that's front and center, the cover art for Bitchin' practically screams heavy metal parking lot. But as Johnny Rotten once wisely noted, you can't always judge a book by its cover. Bitchin' is being touted as the album where the long-running California rockers ditch their pop past and embrace their inner metal maniacs. There are indeed moments where the Donnas sound like the Whisky A Go Go back in the hairspray-hazed years; ace guitarist Allison Robertson shreds like mullets never went out of style on the heavier-than-bricks title track and the boogie-blasted "Smoke You Out." The rhythm section of drummer Torry Castellano and bassist Maya Ford has never been more muscular, and evidently singer Brett Anderson is through taking shit from everyone, including the beneath-her dorks she can't believe she once dated.

What keeps Bitchin' from being more fun than Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson's sex tape is Jay Ruston's (the Polyphonic Spree, Meat Loaf) hyper-glossy, stadium-sized production job. Still, not even the producer's radio-ready sheen is enough to stop the Donnas on the swaggering "Tonight's Alright," an anthem that kicks ass on every one of the Spandexed pansies who once paraded up and down the Sunset Strip back when metal was king. (PURPLE FEATHER) Mike Usinger

ROCKS LIKE
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts' Up Your Alley
Girlschool's Hit And Run
The Runaways' Queens Of Noise

IN-STORE SESSION WITH FRONTWOMAN BRETT ANDERSON

The cover of Bitchin' looks like a classic '80s metal album.
We love headbanging, arena-rock anthems. To go along with that, we wanted to make something simple and shocking and kind of polarizing. Most people love it, but every now and then someone's like, "Umm, I don't know about that." That's the reaction your record cover should get if you're a rock 'n' roll band.

What don't the naysayers like about it?
They think it's crass, maybe 'cause they're obsessed about whose ass it is. Or they think it's rude or dumb. To me, that's what makes it awesome and cool. It is rude, and I like that. Rude is fun.

You've been on Saturday Night Live, all the major late-night talk shows and appeared in Hollywood movies. Are you ever amazed by what you've accomplished?
It's all been totally unreal, and I continue to be surprised. When we put out our first 7-inch, I remember going, "Oh, yeah! We've made it-this is radical." Everything since then has been nothing but icing.

You started your own record label, Purple Feather, for Bitchin'. What's behind the label name?
We were doing a photo shoot at Echo Park Lake [in Los Angeles], and there were all these ducks there. Most ducks have a purple feather under their wing, so we'd be like, "C'mon, show your purple feather." From there, that became sort of a saying between us. What happens when you hang out with the same people all the time is that your inside jokes become your language.

The Donnas have been at it for 14 years with no lineup changes. What's the secret to your longevity?
In order to leave a situation, you usually have to be going to something better. I can't imagine what would be better than supporting yourself by working with three of your best friends. We're all doing something that we love. Apart from one of us falling in love with an astronaut and going to live on a space shuttle, I can't imagine what would be better.

Have you ever got tired of living out of a tour bus?
After you've been home for a while and bombarded with domestic shit, you get to where you're like, "Yeah! Let's get out there on the road. Who cares if I have a cold every day and I can't do laundry?" I don't care-as long as I don't have to vacuum. -Mike Usinger

Official Website: http://www.thedonnas.com



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