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JOAN JETT on her new album and going warped
from: ny.metro.us
by amber ray / metro new york
Bikini Kill/Le Tigre siren Kathleen Hanna loves JOAN JETT. Peaches and L7 do, too. Legions of female rockers made their first pawn shop guitar purchase after taking a JOAN JETT record for a spin, and that legacy’s not about to stop, as the riot grrl pioneer reaches the third decade of her career.
"Damn right, I’m hitting Warped Tour to remind girls they can pick up a guitar," the raspy voiced Jett enthuses over the phone before a soundcheck. "Damn right, that’s my job. But you know, I’ve got a thing or two to show the boys too."
Rules. Broken.
Jett has signed on for a summer-long tour of duty on the youth-skewed Warped Tour in support of "SINNER," the new album with an old school punk streak that’s in stark contrast to the pop-punk boy bands rotating through the mainstream at the moment. "SINNER," out Tuesday, is Jett’s reunion with backing band the BLACKHEARTS and her first studio album in over a decade (Hanna even lends vocals on a number of songs). On 14 tracks Jett kicks a sound reminiscent of the furious riffs of a burgeoning 1980s Los Angeles punk scene, a movement she helped shape as co-founder of the RUNAWAYS and producer of the Germs’ lone full-length album, the infamous "GI."
If there are any rules in the game of rock ’n’ roll, Jett has broken them all. In a 30-year career that’s drop-kicked gender barriers and sweetly yet sneeringly courted Top Ten chart success like a punk rock prom date, the front woman has become a pop culture icon. But Jett has never been one to exploit her gender or make it an issue for anything other than leveling the rock ’n’ roll playing field. From the start of her career, the "I Love Rock ’N’ Roll" singer found empowerment in the all-female lineup of the RUNAWAYS, despite the group being initially dismissed as a novelty act with a jail bait image.
No backing down
"I never thought the RUNAWAYS would be seen as controversial, more like, ‘My God, this is great,’" Jett explains. "At 16 I didn’t get why people thought we were threatening, but once I saw that effect, I wasn’t willing to back down."
Today, Jett still confronts audiences with taboo subject matter, whether it’s lyrically calling out politicians and conjuring visions of blunt fetishism ("You don’t have to be a pervert to like a song like ‘Fetish,’" Jett says of the explicit dominatrix-themed track. "Anyone who likes sex should understand that song"), or through her increasingly androgynous image.
"Let’s talk about androgyny," Jett begins, recalling her own new song of the same name. "I’m very much a woman, and I know and like that. I don’t have an identity crisis on that level. But my essence is androgynous. I don’t wear dresses; I’m more comfortable dressed like a boy," she continues. "I’m really comfortable floating down the middle with a lot of things. I don’t like rigidly constructed roles — I know I’m a girl and that’s as far as that goes. Anything beyond that is up for grabs."
The attitude. The rock. On "SINNER," JOAN JETT is still playing by her own rules.
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