Ultra primitive
lo-fi
post-punk
from the Vancouver duo of
David Lester
and
Jean Smith
, who throughout the late '80s and early '90s released a string of albums and singles on the hip Olympia label
K
. The group was a highly influential force in the
riot grrrl
movements of the '90s and
Calico Kills the Cat
presents the reduced
punk
guitar sound of three chords, or at least two chords and a
noise
aesthetic. At moments this sounds like a
garage
approximation of
Patti Smith
's
Radio Ethiopia
and at others it recalls the early
avant pop
of
the Raincoats
Young Marble Giants
. The album can be tough listening at best; newcomers to the group are suggested to look to their later work, such as
The Eagle & the Poodle
, as an introduction which varies the incessant sound into more
experimental
territories.
Mecca Normal
has through their career developed the ability to polarize their audience into two camps of either love or hate, which is a virtue of their strident independence and willfully low-tech approach. ~ Skip Jansen