L7 more mature but not mellow
In case anyone was worried that the great grungeera band L7 would mellow out in advanced age, the two singles the band released since reuniting should lay those fears to rest.
The titles of the two songs, “Dispatch From Mara-Lago” and “I Came Back to Bitch,” are pretty much self-explanatory. Both are full of the cutting wit and crunching riffs of the band in their ’90s prime.
“There’s always been a method to our madness,” singer/guitarist Donita Sparks said this week. “And we’ve still got plenty to complain about. A song like ‘Mar-a-Lago’ is as topical as we ever get, and we put that out last year because we thought Trump was going to get impeached at any minute. Now we feel like, ‘Ah well, guess we didn’t need to rush on that one.’”
An inspiration to bands from the Donnas to the Foo Fighters, L7 dissolved in bad tempers and career disappointments in 2001. The classic lineup — Sparks, guitarist Suzi Gardner, bassist Jennifer Finch and drummer Demetra Plakas — originally came together to work on a documentary film, “L7: Pretend We’re Dead” (which screened locally last fall). The film caught the band’s sense of provocative mischief — Sparks once threw used feminine products at an unresponsive audience — but also showed the emotions behind their breakup.
“Suzi got very personal toward the end of the film, and that surprised me, so I decided to go personal as well,” Sparks said. “I think everybody can relate to that feeling of pushing 40 and wondering what you have to show for it, especially if it’s about to get taken away. I’ve heard from a lot of artists that it really hit home.”
L7 is now four years into its reunion. Sparks says things are different, but not that different.
“That dreaded M-word has entered into it: maturity. The most mind-blowing thing is that we all show up on time now, which was not the case back in the day.”
But once they’re onstage, the years tend to fall away.
“It’s funny, when the band broke up, I went into hiding mode. I was trying to be invisible and blend into a crowd, which is totally contrary to my being, and it was a complete failure. As you get older and come through that rough patch, you start to fly your freak flag again.”
The band, she said, got caught in the grunge movement by accident.
“We had this recipe brewing down in L.A., unaware of what was going on in Seattle. But we always had a little more pop in our music; we like catchy stuff. And we all have a distinct way of playing, which came out of a lack of prowess on our instruments. For example, I slide into chords a lot instead of lifting my hand off the bridge, but that adds to our slurry kind of sound.”
They’re touring South America later in the year, and Sparks said that “signs are pointing” to a full new album.
“Anything can happen. The Ramones and Iggy Pop never had huge hits, but their songs are all in the punk pantheon. As far as radio payoff is concerned, none of them got that. Neither did Motorhead, and neither did we. We’re in that underdog, underpaid camp of the legacy bands, and we’re cool with that. Maybe we can get into commercials . ... Oh, how the times have changed.”