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SXSW review: The Donnas
I love a blonde pushing a Gibson through an overdriven Marshall stack. That’s the key to the Donnas’ sound — thanks to monster guitarist Allison Robertson — but not to their fun. The veteran all-female quartet are cheeky but sincere in their unabashed love for every hard rock cliche in the book, whether it’s that gunshot drum break straight out of Kiss’ “Love Gun” or Eddie Van Halen’s hammer-ons and pull-offs. And their poppier stuff Def Leppard could proudly call their own.
Their new album, “Bitchin’,” which they showcased at in an 11:15 p.m. showcase Saturday at Emo’s, is typical first-shaking stuff — funny in a guilty pleasure kind of way but by no means a joke in its great affection for the source material. “Save Me” (which they curiously dedicated to their producer) had a guitar solo straight out of the Ace Frehley loopy lick book, while “Girl Talk” and “Like An Animal” sounded like anthems for an especially raucous sleepover. (Not an original idea — they had an album called “Spend the Night” back in ‘02.) Vocalist Brett Anderson kept the party going, not missing a single cliche (“Austin!” Do you want to hear another song? You guys know how to clap?” Etc, etc.) And they made room for older stuff like “Who Invited You?” and “Take It Off.” I really hope they never outgrown their love for this stuff, and I hope I never do, either.
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