Latest updates about “Le Tigre”

Le Tigre, ‘Le Tigre’ #65 – The 100 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time
Rolling Stone

Le Tigre started with a radical approach: Instead of writing about the “bad stuff,” Johanna Fateman suggested to her new bandmate, Kathleen Hanna, when the two got together in 1998, “We should write about the good stuff.” Instead of singing about staring into the abyss as Hanna had in Bikini Kill, they wrote songs about being in love, dancing all night, debating art, and riding the subway. Instead of the standard rock-band lineup, they used a drum machine. Instead of a Pacific northwest grunge aesthetic, they embraced matching day-glo outfits. The result was a riot-disco revelation — political but positive, upbeat but punk. “We want to write political pop songs and be the dance party after the protest,” Hanna said in 2019. And it worked. —E.G.P.

Which Artist Has the Best Merch?
Vogue

A highlight of the year was seeing Le Tigre at Brooklyn Steel in their first tour in 18 years. Their first record came out when I was in high school, so I was fully ready to indulge in my teen-girl feelings (which, when it comes to matters of Le Tigre, are remarkably similar to my adult-woman feelings). At first I wasn’t going to buy any merch, but after seeing a few people in the audience rocking the tank, I knew I needed to get it. I loved it the most because it’s such a cheeky take on the viral Prada and Loewe tank tops that have been all the rage lately—another way to bridge my teen-girl with my adult self.

Your Fave Band Is Reuniting – But Not For the Reasons You Think
Vice

And take a band like Le Tigre – Kathleen Hanna’s brilliant 90s riot grrl band whose MO was always to “write political pop songs and be the dance party after the protest”. They feel just as, if not more, vital today as they did back then (their debut album in 1999 featured the line “Oh, fuck Giuliani! He’s such a fucking jerk!” – how’s that for prescient?).

“We were originally asked to headline a festival that would take place just months before the 2020 election,” JD Samson of the band tells me. “We hadn’t toured since the Bush era, and it felt especially timely for us to rekindle our anti-right wing chants for our fans and anyone else that wanted to join in.”

“Unfortunately, COVID shifted our timeline and the event ended up taking place in 2022. In the process of working on the show, we reconnected with the work and realised how relevant the music was – and how much fun we had working together – and have felt connected to those intentions since.” Their recent show at the Troxy in London was a joyful celebration – a reminder they’d reached whole new audiences while they were away and that the need for fun, defiant protest feels just as, if not more, pressing than it did when they formed the band.

The Best of Primavera Sound 2023: Blur, Kendrick, Rosalía, and More
Pitchfork

“The trio tore through classics like “Deceptacon” and “TKO” as though no time had passed, with Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman each dressed in vibrantly colorful outfits that gleamed under the light show. Hanna and Samson split banter duty, with Hanna giving especially impassioned speeches deriding oppression and urging the audience to take action against it wherever they can.”

Le Tigre review – fun meets fury in an unmissable feminist pop reunion
The Guardian

On the face of it, rage and joy are not an easy aesthetic fit. Rage is engaged, rope-veined; joy is free and light – frivolous, even. And yet the collected works of musical activist Kathleen Hanna – across three bands: 1990s punk outfit Bikini Kill, her electronic bedroom pop project the Julie Ruin, and Le Tigre, a multimedia collaboration alongside Johanna Fateman (mostly guitar) and JD Samson (mostly synths) – dance along the tightrope between fury and fun.

The best ’90s albums to revisit the always-trending decade, from Blur to Nas
GQ

“With Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna had led a band that challenged and changed the gender dynamics of punk rock. Then came Le Tigre. Hanna says that their MO was to “write political pop songs and be the dance party after the protest.” And their debut in 1999 delivered: it’s a record that’s clever and political but not too clever and political to get in the way of having fun: these are shouty, exhilarating songs, charged with a DIY spirit using drum machines, samplers, turntables and also a sense of discovery, celebration and solidarity. “Deceptacon” remains an indie dance-floor filler and “My My Metrocard” has the lines ““Oh, fuck Giuliani! He’s such a fucking jerk!”. What’s not to love?”

Kathleen Hanna’s Feminist Party Band Le Tigre reunite: ‘It’s depressing our lyrics are still relevant 20 years later’
The Guardian

Most bands wring their hands over whether to reunite or not, but for Le Tigre it was easy. The impetus was a festival in Pasadena, Los Angeles, in 2022. “It was three miles from my house,” says frontwoman Kathleen Hanna, laughing. “I was like: ‘I want to do this because I can cruise down the hill and go to the festival and all my friends can come.’” Then they concluded that the rehearsals for the festival – done over video call, and in LA and New York where bandmates Johanna Fateman and JD Samson live – shouldn’t be wasted. They announced a full tour, their first since 2005, which hits the UK in June.

Le Tigre Announce First North American Tour In 18 Years
Stereogum

“Last year, Le Tigre performed together for the first time in over a decade at the This Ain’t No Picnic festival in Los Angeles. Today, the dance-punk trio — which is made up of Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman — has announced their first full-scale tour in 18 years, which will kick off in May and continue on through the summer. It includes stops at multiple Primavera-associated events and at Mosswood Meltdown Festival, which is hosted by John Waters.”

Mosswood Meltdown 2023: Le Tigre, Gravy Train!!!!, The Rondelles, more
Brooklyn Vegan

“The Mosswood Meltdown returns to Oakland’s Mosswood Park on July 1 & 2. They’ve announced the initial lineup, which is headlined by Le Tigre, and making it even more electroclash are their old friends Gravy Train!!! (featuring Seth “Hunx” Bogart) who are reuniting for their only 2022/2023 show. The initial lineup also includes rare performances by Tina & The Total Babes, The Rondelles, and Quintron & Miss Pussycat, with more to be announced soon”

5 Essential Female Dance Albums Of The 2000s: ‘It’s Blitz’ To ‘Youth Novels’ And More
Grammy.com

While songs like “Fake French” and “Well Well Well” glide between rap and post-punk influences, Hanna’s lyrics on “FYR.” feel ever more prescient in a post- Roe v. Wade America. In one of the cheekier references to the film Psycho, Hannah sings: “One step forward, five steps back/ One cool record in the year of rock-rap/ Yeah we got all the power/ getting stabbed in the shower/ And we got equal rights on ladies’ night”