Kathleen Hanna is best known as the former leader of Bikini Kill, the band that defined the early '90s riot-grrl movement. When Bikini Kill formed in the late '80s, their mix of catchy punk tunes and hard-hitting politics were a timely wake-up call to the male-dominated alternative rock scene in the Pacific Northwest, positioning the band as icons and role models to girls across the country. But cultural climates change quickly and alarms are intended to wake people up, not to go off all day. Once the shock of the new of the riot-grrl movement wore thin, few were listening short of riot-grrls themselves.

Rather than continuing to preach to the choir, Hanna has called off mass in favor of a dance party. As Le Tigre, she teams up with fanzine producer Johanna Fateman and independent video and filmmaker Sadie Benning. Let's compare Le Tigre's self-titled debut to the most famous use of music for political ends ever.

CASE STUDY #1: THE USES AND ABUSES OF FLEETWOOD MAC IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE
Hypothetical excerpt from a transcript of a Clinton campaign strategizing sessions:

Bill Clinton: I think people are saying we will stop. What's up with that?

George Stephanopolous: Bill, don't stop!

Bill Clinton: Stop what? Hey, I saw that fine program, "Behind the Music: The Stevie Nicks Story" for the 10th time on VH1 again this afternoon. Do you think either of you boys could arrange for Stevie to drop by the White House tomorrow evening?

James Carville: Look, Bill. As your advisor I have to tell you, I don't think getting any further "behind her music" will help your presidential campaign.

George Stephanopolous: Actually, James, you are totally wrong. It's perfect! [singing:] Don't/ Stop/ Thinking about tomorrow/ Don't/ Stop/ It'll soon be here...

Bill Clinton: I won't stop thinking! James, did you find Stevie's number? I could be her Silver Spring! I know I could do it! Do you think she's available tomorrow?

The rest is history. Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" was programmed to play on repeat at the Democratic National Convention, culminating in an unforgettable Saxophone rendition of the classic by Clinton's recovering brother, "Roj," and the song became inextricably tied to Clinton's campaign.

"Don't Stop" was then put in higher rotation by so-called-leftist media outlets such as Easy Listening KISS 105.1FM to bolster the Democrats in the Presidential race. Yet, there was no obligation to report the airplay as campaign spending. Meanwhile, the target demographic car-danced to the album in their yuppie-mobiles all the way to the voting booth. Money spent on broadcasting "Don't Stop" across America was softer than wet camel food (an anagram for Fleetwood Mac). Outcome: a Landslide! "Don't Stop" was played at the inaugural gala.

CASE STUDY #2: THE POTENTIAL OF LE TIGRE IN THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL SPHERES
Hypothetical excerpt from a transcript a Le Tigre campaign strategizing sessions:

Kathleen Hanna: I think people are saying we will stop. What's up with that?

Johanna Fateman: Kathleen, don't stop!

Kathleen Hanna: People are saying that "girl-rock" is either angry and aggressive replays of riot-grrl cliché's or over-produced bubblegum schlock.

Johanna Fateman: Well, sure, there's a lot of crap out there. But there's also a lot of stuff out there that doesn't fit into either of those categories. I mean, Kathleen, you're like the riot poster-grrl, and even if your last project as Julie Ruin wasn't incredibly successful, it certainly wasn't riot-grrl cliché.

Kathleen Hanna: Do you think we could make a record that more girls and boys listen to without abandoning the politics that inspire our music? The music could then inspire the girls' and boys' politics!

Johanna Fateman: We could sugar the pill! Coat our politics in pop that's a little bit easier to swallow.

Sadie Benning: Sugar the Pill?! Why not go all the way and lace our feminist lyrics with pop-crack?! Even the boys will like our pop-crack!

RECIPE FOR LE TIGRE POP-CRACK:

1. Take basic garage rock song structures that make you want to sing along and update them with some pop, punk, and surf-guitar. Think Slits, Raincoats, and later Bikini Kill in a blender.

2. Layer the songs with lots of samples to create atmospheres that will inevitably be described as "cinematic."

3. Frost the songs with hip-hop-infused drum machines, old-school electronics and new wave keyboards.

These songs are addictive. They will be the soundtrack to kitchen dance parties in every house this album enters. Le Tigre brought their multimedia dance party to Providence, Rhode Island a few weeks ago and I went to buy the album a few days later. I needed the crack, and I wasn't alone. Right now, Le Tigre is the Amazon.com's #2 best-selling album to University Students in Rhode Island!

The lyrics are less didactic than Bikini Kill's and are geared for the repeated listens these well-crafted pop songs beg for. The catchy "Hot Topic" includes a list of musicians, writers and activists whose work deals with "hot topics." The chorus repeats: "Hot topic is the way that we rhyme." Hanna sings, "You're getting old/ That's what they say/ But don't give a damn/ I'm listening anyway." Remember how people raced to figure out who all those names were in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" and Madonna's "Vogue?" "Hot Topic" will work the same way. Most listeners will already recognize names like Joan Jett and Sleater-Kinney, but what about Billy Tipton and Vaginal Cream Davis?

Le Tigre leads off with "Deceptacon," a hook-driven number that satiates your desire for no-strings-attached entertainment with lyrics such as, "Wanna disco?/ Wanna see me disco?/ Let me hear you depoliticize my rhyme," and then moves into a lament on the lack of meaningful lyrics in popular rock. The band also takes a shot at experimentalism with "Slideshow at a Free University" and "Dude Yr So Crazy," which pairs a collage of descriptive phrases with a sound-loop that humorlessly conjures stalkers and psychopaths from classic American films.

Radical feminist and anarchist Emma Goldman once said, "I don't want to be part of your revolution if I can't dance." Like Fleetwood Mac before them (but with more politically relevant lyrics than, "All I want is to see you smile/ If it takes just a little while"), Le Tigre's debut will provide anthems for their target demographic. Fleetwood Mac reached out to hippies and people who liked to look at Mick Fleetwood's faux-testicles. Le Tigre aims for anyone interested in an addictive pastiche that could ultimately lead to metaphorical "voting-booths" for the cultural and political issues they're singing about.

-Kristin Sage Rockermann