The Donnas – Review

The Donnas

(Lookout!)
by Scott Hefflon

With the success of American Teenage Rock’n’Roll Machine, Lookout! re-releases the hopelessly out-of-print Super*teem Records LP with lotsa early 7″ tracks tacked on at the end. And while the production quality is horrid on some of the last tracks (their earliest recordings, done after-hours at a Mail Boxes Etc.), with 23 songs to get excited about, I’m sure you’ll cut ’em some slack. Even Rolling Stone pulled their heads out of their tweed-clad asses long enough to over-generalize The Donnas phenomenon.

Recorded when they were 14-16, The Donnas compiles all the juicy teen thrills of eavesdropping on the “bad girls” as they talk about boys, cars, pot, and more boys. And not since the Ramones has there been a band that sounds this simple and honest. Even great bands like the Riverdales, The Groovy Ghoulies, and The Queers accidentally sneak in something technically impressive, but The Donnas are pure, simplistic beauty. And again, the lyrics are so inanely right-on (a contradiction, I know, but you know what I mean), you can sing along to “I’m Gonna Make Him Mine (Tonight)” and “We Don’t Go” (“hangin’ out, acting like a yo-yo,” and plenty of words awkwardly pronounced so they’ll rhyme), and my favorite, “Get Rid Of That Girl,” the running list of “beating the competition.” As often as not, the chants are not exactly in sync, the harmonies don’t all end at the same time, and the pace is less than metronomic – but this is true, gritty, sexy rock, and anyone who nitpicks should be beaten with a very large stick.

Covers of The Beach Boys’ “Drive In” and “Da Doo Ron Ron” (pick yer favorite version, if you say Shaun Cassidy’s, seek help) are included, as well as originals of soon-to-be-covered songs. The rock’n’roll spirit is rarely seen in such pure, naive form, so if you’re sick of neatly packaged, market-tested youth rebellion/teen thrills, check out The Donnas.
(PO Box 11374 Berkeley, CA 94712)