There’s no such thing as an album that’s a perfect 10 – but there those that are one notch below. The 9’s is an occasional series which explores some of those records.

Released: 1992

About

What would’ve been a scintillating first album from a highly promising Seattle band became something else when The Gits singer Mia Zapata was murdered not long after it’s release. Having moved from Ohio and then building a vibrant word of mouth network that stretched trans-continentally, their time was evidently coming and Frenching The Bully was proof that their feverish reputation was justified.

Why a 9?

Zapata was one of the singers of her generation; not just in the context of a local or national DIY punk scene, but across Frenching The Bully’s lean half hour she assumes the mantles of Patti Smith, Poly Styrene or Debbie Harry with a shocking confidence. In mood it’s angry yes, but not resigned, closed off or nihilistic. For a debut record the evident sense of confidence and purpose is jaw dropping; it should be remembered that bad punk records are as easy to make as those of any other genre.

Why Is It Important?

Not that any sort of list is meaningful here, but it’s worth considering Frenching The Bully in several different contexts. In Zapata you had a charismatic frontwoman in the mould of Courtney Love and latterly, The Distillers‘ Brody Dalle, the sort of provocative, independent females which petrified the music industry. As a record it’s often bracketed as hardcore, but any listen reveals a musical envelope well beyond that, whilst finally it’s still intriguing to consider how things might’ve gone with the higher profile they would surely have earned, an outcome which seemed inevitable before that chance was so violently taken away.

You Should Listen To

Absynthe, Another Shot of Whisky, It All Dies Anyway, Cut My Skin It Makes Me Human

The Voice Of Unreason

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