In Continuum.

Rock Chicks

When it comes to the genre of 'Rock', we usually think about a couple of things. First of all, you are probably going to imagine a band on stage, playing their music at the loudest volume possible, shredding the guitars and slapping the bass guitars, while the drummer threatens to burst every one of his drums. Or you might be thinking about the band after the concert, just hanging out in the backstage with a table full of alcohol and drugs, and not to forget the women all around them, with clothes hanging from their bodies, barely enough to cover their skin. Whatever the image may be, the characters involved are almost always male, for some reason. There is a term in Communication Studies that states this phenomenon. It's just like the career as a doctor, a lawyer or a scientist. People usually have a male doctor, a male lawyer, or a male scientist in mind. We don't usually have the mental image of a women in that occupation as well. Similarly, when we talk about 'Rock and Roll', the image of a female rocker is probably not going to emerge in your head very readily.

Though I won't say that I have an extensive collection of music, I must say that there have been numerous female rockers that have caught my attention throughout the years. It might be their stage antics, their style of music, or the way they look on stage. Whatever the reasons may be, these female rockers deserve an entry belonging to themselves, and have the right to stand right next to their male rock counterparts. If you are one of those ignorant idiots who are calling their music "Vagina Rock", perhaps it is about time you start a charity fund to raise money for idiots like yourself. Do us a favor, and rid us of your stupidity. Thanks.

So here are a couple of female rockers whom I think are really cool in their own rights. They are not really famous or anything, like Blondie or Alanis Morissette. But I guess they too deserve to be mentioned. So here we go.




The thing about Cat Power - or Chan Marshall - is that she cares little if the audience are going to stay throughout her show, or leave halfway through after being frustrated by her strange stage antics. She performs on stage for her own needs and her own wants, and you are free to come and go whenever you like. That is how Cat Power is like as a person, perhaps the most nonchalant singer out there today. Armed with a piano or a guitar, a cigarette and her own musical talents, she will be ready to hit the stage and perform for a sell-out crowd without even the need of a band. Because Cat Power is the ultimate minimalist, as she prefers to be in control of the music she does on stage alone and never really with anybody else.

Her album "The Covers Record", doesn't have a single song accompanied by any other musicians. Just herself with a single instrument, and that's about it. Be it an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, or a piano. This woman can tear the house down with her raw vocals and is capable of gravitating you into her strange realm of music. Like a modern-day Nina Simone, she stops halfway through a song sometimes and walks off the stage out of frustration for herself, which angered a lot of fans at one point. However, after battling her alcoholism and emerging from the rehab centers a changed individual, this rock chick is ready to attack the world of music once more with an anticipated album at the end of this year. I personally, cannot wait for her raw voice to tug at my heart strings once more.



Dolores O'Riordan recently went solo and released an album called 'Are You Listening?', after moving on from her previous band, The Cranberries. Despite growing up in a strict Catholic family, Dolores O'Riordan never saw that as a restriction but continued to break through genres and rules through her music and style. When it comes to having a distinctive voice in rock, I think Dolores O'Riordan stands right up there with the likes of Steven Tyler and Bob Dylan. Because this woman has one of the most distinct voices in music, and not a lot of people can actually imitate her and make the end result sound remotely good. Despite so many attempts to be like her, Dolores O'Riordan remains the leader of her own style, and the sole conquerer of her own rights and music.

Nobody else can really deliver the kind of anger and frustration through their songs like Dolores O'Riordan does in the song 'Zombie'. The way she growls deep and at the same time, being able to hit the higher notes is something not everybody can achieve. And it is not just her music transforming, but also her physical appearances throughout the years. Alongside Madonna, she is probably another person in the music industry who has tried every single hairstyle there is out there, not to mention the color too. I love how she relies little on gimmicky gadgets on stage, and goes out there as who she is and does her music with her band. In terms of simplicity, she is the musician who can say that she appreciates a simple life and means it. An admirable singer, wife, and mother all at once, she truly deserves her place here.




Try to be like this amazing musician, just try. Everybody is going to give up - hands down - and agree that nobody can ever match up with Kazu's vibe. Because as the lead singer of Blonde Redhead, Kazu Makino absorbs you in with not only her lyrics, but her haunting voice that is almost like the sound from another world entire. The winning formula is more than just the fact that the band consists of a Japanese woman and a pair of Italian twin, but rather in the music the band makes and the presence it injects into the hearts of listeners as well as their audiences.

I've never heard Kazu Makino speak before, and that is after searching through a dozen concert footages as well as any video footage of her interviews. She gives me a sense of mystery, a kind of vibe you get from the person sitting in the corner of a bar, sipping quietly on a glass of hard liquor. She goes onto the stage with her band, and plays a bunch of music throughout the sets without stopping at all for a breather, small talks, whatsoever. Even without those, she never fails to captivate the audience in the most enchanting way, transporting them to another realm altogether. Her voice is probably the most haunting - and sometimes even disturbing - voice in the music industry I have ever heard. After being filtered through her voice, every song can become something totally different, and painted over the lyrics are pictures of goth and perhaps even depression. However, amidst those gloom, a sense of beauty and hope as well.




There are no questions about it. Karen O is crazy. Somewhere between the front stage and the back, Karen O loses her mind and turns into a wild beast. There is probably nothing Karen O has yet to do on stage, and nothing that happens there can be weird enough for her. After all, this is the same person who sang with a glistering disco ball on her head once, and also the same person who placed a lamp shade around her face. Completed with her strange style of fashion that changes with every gig, Karen O really is one strange rock chick from every possible perspective.

Karen O has no reservations, and she goes onto the stage to unleash that monster inside of her, a monster I have never seen in any singer ever before. There are times when such release can become rather pretentious on stage, but not for Karen O. She goes out there, and she screams whatever she wants to into the microphone, and she cares little if somebody is going to say that she has a weird dress on, or if she is singing off key. She cares little about anything, but the pure joy involved in letting loose on stage, and being somebody entirely different from herself down below. Nobody can get as intense and as crazy up there like her, and it should be advisable to remain at a safety distance from her, because she might bite your head off any time during the performance.

So don't be surprised if you read that Karen O can swallow a Rubik's Cube and then spit it out after five minutes after solving it in her stomach. Or even she bites off Avril Lavigne's arms and uses it as a microphone stand during her gig. Or even if her head opens and an UFO flies out, calling for home. Please, when you see that happening, do not panic. Karen is just being Karen, and she is crazy and sexy like that.