#193
1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
Nikki & the Corvettes
Nikki & the Corvettes
Genre: Power Pop Rock
4.25 out of 5
Highlights:
Just What I Need
Boys Boys Boys
Let’s Go
Back Seat Love
Gimme Gimme
If you took The Runaways and merged them with All Girl Summer Fun Band (I know, they are decades apart) you end up with Nikki & the Corvettes.
Super cute bubblegum rock that never sticks around too long, knows when to get out and could be the soundtrack to Josie & the Pussycats.
It’s important to remember that this predates The Go-Gos and The Bangles and all of that. For whatever reason female driven rock groups don’t get the traction and following that they probably should and that’s a damned shame. I just saw Starcrawler open for The Struts and that woman is a punk hellion worthy of our attention. Summer Cannibals, another female led group, opened for them last year and, dammit, I am here for a bunch of women bashing out rock, you know?
There are three songs on this album with the names “Let’s Go”, “Shake It Up” and “Just What I Need”.
The latter is a super little rave up that sounds nothing like it’s Cars namesake. “Let’s Go” is a 70s power pop party tune worthy of both Buddy Holly and The Ramones. It’s a two lane blacktop LA River race. “Shake It Up” is more a call to action to make shit happen.
You know what comes to mind when listening to the obvious but subtle “Back Seat Love”? I mean, besides the notion that at 15 I would have been dreaming about meeting Nikki? That this song is in the tradition of “Raspberries” “Go All the Way” and The Knack’s “Good Girls Don’t” and you should put it on a playlist immediately.
I’m back-to-back playing “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” with The Rubinoos’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” and that response song is even better than Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville’s response to The Rolling Stones.
Also, that The Donnas owe a ton to Nikki.
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