Through their first records were released two years apart in the late-’90s, I got into Kathleen Hanna’s two post-Bikini-Kill projects, Julie Ruin and Le Tigre, around the same time. It was either late 1999 or early 2000, and I remember digesting the two in totally different ways: Julie Ruin was a solitary experience, played in my headphones and bedroom, while Le Tigre was the party record broadcast in the car on the LIE en route to NYC nightclubs.
Le Tigre certainly took off, with two more records on the way, and in the next few years Hanna’s Julie Ruin record seemed to be cemented as a one-off (though one with messages that linger, and sound even more vital in the face of today’s issues).
Now Hanna is back with Julie Ruin, nearly a decade after that last Le Tigre record, though it’s a different beast, really. One, there’s a “The” in front of the name, and more importantly, it’s a full band that finds Hanna reunited with Bikini Kill bassist Kathi Wilcox. The Julie Ruin’s debut record, Run Fast, is out September 3 via the band’s own Dischord-distributed TJR Records, and a new music video for “Oh Come On” surfaced today.
Oddly, and to my ears, anyway, “Oh Come On” sounds like a guitar-leaning mix of both those two late-’90s records, and Hanna sounds as sharp as ever sing-shouting over a garage rock groove. I feel like I’m in the back seat of a Saturn getting the fuck off Long Island all over again.
The Julie Ruin will be on separate runs with Swearin’ and La Sera in the fall to support Run Fast, though sadly there isn’t a Boston date just yet. Hopefully that will change.
The Julie Ruin 2013 tour dates:
September 3: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
September 5: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer*
September 7: Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat*
September 12: Portland, OR @ TBA Festival
September 15: Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s#
September 17: San Francisco, CA @ Slims#
September 19: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo#
September 22: San Diego, CA @ Irenic#
November 8-10: Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
* = with Swearin’
# = with La Sera