Die Monitr Batss

Girls Of War

[5] The underground is filled with would-be contenders trying-by either shrewd calculation or total ineptitude-to advance the brittle genre of no wave along into this century. Die Monitr Batss have created a sublime document that gives them bragging rights to stand alongside their influences while putting out cigarettes on those giants’ shoes. The 12 tracks here (total time: 25:01) are loaded with nimble bass lines, stark ’n’ steady rhythms, levels of jittery guitar chatter and detached vocals that are just as captivating as the work of music history’s anti-heroes (the Slits, Essential Logic, Bush Tetras, Malaria, No New York). The Batss have conveyed the genre’s inherent iciness with such aplomb and finesse, new listeners no longer need to live vicariously through old fanzines and collectable records priced too high on eBay. (Troubleman)-Jason Pettigrew