So why is Le Tigre’s Le Tigre on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I spent around nine months doing research for this best 1,000 I spent around nine months doing research for this best 1,000 albums project, and most of that involved listening to thousands of albums by as many artists and bands that I could get my greedy little hands and ears on. Spotify was immensely helpful in this effort, and where it occasionally didn’t have what I was looking for, YouTube usually filled in ably.*
* It’s a very different world from the one in which my musical life consisted of my cassette and CD collections, plus the radio. Wasn’t all that long ago, really!
I did all of this research, all of this “work,” because it’s super fun. Heck, it didn’t even start out as a “project”; it was more something to pass the time during the early, darkest days of the pandemic. But as it did evolve into a “project,” I took it seriously because if I was to develop and publish something as crazy – stupid dumb as the Beastie Boys might say – as a “best 1,000 albums” list (in order from 1,000 to number one!), I figured I’d better make sure I’ve truly scoured the earth and the webs for anything that remotely had a chance to make the cut.
I mention all of the above as presage to letting you know that I had never in my life heard of Le Tigre until the research phase for the best 1k albums project, and rather late into it at that.
“Deceptacon,” the lead track on Le Tigre absolutely melts my brain every time I listen to it, as does most of the album. It’s silly, strange, loose, and fun on the one hand, and absolutely crushes sonically with an incredibly catchy hook that maps across new wave, punk, and power pop.
“Deceptacon” is that gem you’re willing to spend all afternoon – hell, all month – digging around in the dusty crates in the back of the music store for. It’s absolutely brilliant.
Le Tigre frontwoman Kathleen Hanna was already an important figure in the riot grrrl movement dating back to her time with Bikini Kill. That same feminist punk urgency is alive and well on Le Tigre, channeled into a quirky, electronic, and danceable framework.
The only reason that this album isn’t much, much higher on the best 1,000 albums ever project is because I simply haven’t spent enough time with it. If I can get one person turned onto Le Tigre, it’ll make the entire… bompalompalomp, for lack of a better word, worthwhile.
“Phanta” dials up weirdo electronic effects into a punk mix that the likes of Frank Black, Pixies, and Devo heads could equally get down with.
“Hot Topic” leans into a retro 1960s sensibility that reminds me of the great Ursula 1000 (see: The Now Sound of Ursula 1000, #912 of best 1,000 albums ever).
See you later.
Some stats & info about Le Tigre
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, New Wave, Post Punk Revival, Alternative Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Le Tigre released? 1999
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #549 out of 1,000
Le Tigre on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Le Tigre that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp? Who took the ram from the ramalamadingdong?
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery. But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High