Red Aunts ‘Teach Me To Kill’

Somebody said to me recently that I used this blog to moan about things. They were correct. I’m a gruesomely nice person most of the time, in fact, it’s something I pride myself on, so this blog acts as a much needed pillow to scream into when my Ned Flanders-like facade starts to droop. I’m not exactly a saint – I put on my Primark tights one leg at a time like everyone else – but recently a lot of people, even strangers, have remarked about how ‘nice’ I am. That’s a lovely thing to hear, and it is much appreciated when kindness is noticed – yet, part of me still dreams of being a total badass. For most of my teens I modelled myself on punk idols, rubbing kohl around my eyes and perching like a wet crow on the playground swings, but I never truly got into the kick ass spirit of the whole thing. It’s not that I’m timid as such, it’s just that in a mosh pit I’m much more likely to help a person up rather than push them into the fray (which, it turns out, is not what people in mosh pits want you to do). Sometimes kindness can be equated with being a pushover, and it’s true that I often find myself saying ‘yes’ to the most inconvenient things for the sake of keeping up appearances – you want me to wrap your Christmas presents for you? No problem! Hungry? Let me make you a three course meal! Lick your boot? Sure! With that in mind, my New Year’s resolution is to be a little firmer, a bit more punk rock, and I’m starting early by listening to Californian queens of badassery, 90’s punk band Red Aunts. Whilst they disbanded more than a few years ago now (with lead singer Terri Wahl going on to open her own bakery in LA), the chaotic quartet are back playing live with a run of US dates in January. Particularly good is ‘Teach Me To Kill‘ from their 1993 debut album ‘Drag’, with rollicking guitar riffs, a rip-roaring rhythm section, and Riot Grrrl-tastic vocals perfectly summing up their knack for urgent, catchy songwriting. Enjoy. Or don’t. I don’t care.