If you're looking for soda pop rock, Ani Difranco's latest, "Little Plastic Castle," is not the place to go. If, however, you are looking for something that pulses and drives, then you might want to give her a try.
Just when the music scene seems to be getting a little stale, Difranco comes to our rescue with a new album that breaks through the stagnant musical waters with a perfect splash. She is in a class by herself.
Difranco's music on "Little Plastic Castle," like her previous albums, is not simply ear candy for a passive listener, but a type of music that teases and taunts -- her voice blasts through each song with a beat that makes her music rock.
The thread that weaves through all of the songs is the hypocrisy that we inflect on each other and ourselves. The title of the album reflects an aspect of this hypocrisy.
Yet, she refuses to allow the hype around her recent success to change who she is as a person and as a musician. Instead of cowering away from all of the attention, Difranco launches a full-scale offensive attack. She mocks the absurdities of media life continuously from the album cover to the references to fishes sprinkled throughout her songs with comically biting commentaries.
The first song, "Little Plastic Castle," addresses the frustrations of "the girl police," as she calls the trend to define feminism. Difranco has been hailed as the modern feminist rocker, yet, her independence has brought her under fire from the fair weather supporters.
Her response is biting: "People talk about my image like I come in two dimensions, like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind, like what I happen to be wearing the day someone takes a picture is my new statement for all womankind." She illuminates the contradictions in our society that all people are subjected to.
While Difranco takes bites out of the absurd, she continues to do what she does best through out the album-- create good music. Song after song on this album twist and turn your ears and mind, leaving you wanting more.
"Deep Dish" is a funky song that gyrates to the beat of a wailing section of trombones, saxophones and trumpets that play up against saucy guitar licks. While Difranco plays with the instruments she tosses in a Ginsberg-like reading by Mark Holloman into the song, making this song sound more like it's from a Beat generation poetry reading rather than a rock song.
Another excellent song on this stellar album is "Glass House." It opens up with a twangy electric guitar whose rifts sound faintly country that melt into a soft acoustic piece that allows Difranco's voice to soar.
"Little Plastic Castle" is Difranco's independence day anthem. For budding Difranco fans, this album is a good foretaste of the feast to come from exploring Difranco's numerous works. Difranco has owned her own record label, Righteous Babe, since she was 18 years old and has published all of her albums on it -- another way she has been able to keep herself out of the fishbowl and do what she does best, make good music.
