From The Golden Gate To Bedford-Stuy

The Julie Ruin “Cookie Road”

I’ve been telling people for a few weeks that the new record by The Julie Ruin is the best top-to-bottom album of Kathleen Hanna’s career, and I stand by that. It’s very consistent in quality, and the songs take all the strengths of Hanna’s old bands and merge them into something that is both familiar and fresh. It’s also extremely fun – like, party rock B-52’s fun. Not that fun would be a new thing for her: Hanna is famous for being a politically active feminist, but her songs over the past two decades have mostly avoided strident didacticism in favor of up-tempo music that makes being a smart, empathetic, socially engaged person seem like a good time, and that you’re invited to the party. It’s all implicitly inclusive, and it fosters a sense that by coming together, we can overcome a lot of horrible things. Social change requires social interaction, you know?

Buy it from Amazon.