Graded on a Curve: Typical Girls,
Volume 5

In May of 2016, Emotional Response Records issued the first installment in their Typical Girls compilation series, an endeavor dedicated to “current female fronted punk and indie bands from around the globe.” Here we are in 2020 and the label is dishing out a fifth volume, which includes 16 acts in styles ranging from the expected shades of post-punk to the somewhat less common but totally welcome pop-rocking guitar hookiness to pummeling hardcore. It’s out February 21 on vinyl and digital.

This series of comps is named after a song by The Slits, with the intention to pay tribute to that band’s groundbreaking ways, in terms of kicking over gender barriers to be sure, but also stylistically, as Ari Up and company reside at the head of the UK post-punk class. By extension, tipping the hat to “Typical Girls” is a potentially quick clue-in as to what to expect when needle hits vinyl.

With their opening cut “Mooncake,” Melbourne, Australia’s Empat Lima land in that zone with authority. Self-described as a “beat-garage trio,” they tickle my fancy with a little late ’70s-early ’80s Rough Trade angularity but with an undercurrent of humor in the execution. The song reasserts the modus operandi of the Typical Girls series quite nicely, but just as quickly Color TV of Los Angeles deepen matters with a cut that hits closer to Bomp! Records-style gal-fronted power-pop.

It’s Tipper Newton singing and playing guitar, and she holds down the spot with enthusiasm and panache. Like all top-notch power-pop, “Anybody’s Girl” thrives through repeated play; it sounds fine on this comp, but it calls out for a pressing on 45 RPM vinyl (it has been issued as a cassette single, but it’s sold out).

From there, Germany’s Inserts roar through a solid chunk of ’77 punk that nods toward the Neue Deutsche Welle without ever going full-blown arty. Instead, “Chemnitz” should give Killed By Death fans a good squeeze. The same is true of much of the Typical Girls experience, both prior and right here, though Glaswegians Vital Idles swing the pendulum back to a UK post-punk state of affairs.

Their “Dream Baby Dream” (not a Suicide cover) is also the sorta thing that would’ve fit right in on the Kill Rock Stars or K labels in the early ’90s, and it’s in sharp contrast to “Motor Bitches” by Londoners Snob, who deliver a D-beat hardcore-descended attack that’s mauls at the ear like a cassette release reviewed in a mid-’80s issue of Maximum Rocknroll.

“To the Test” by Olympia, WA’s Table Sugar brings another considerable change, connecting more like a homemade single inspired by early Mute Records than the indie sounds normally associated with their city (that would be the aforementioned K Records, don’tcha know). With the raw punk punch of “Bad Habits Die,” Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Whip swing us back into KBD territory, an observation made with some authority as elsewhere they’ve covered Dow Jones and the Industrials’ stone classic “Can’t Stand the Midwest.”

Whip’s total smoker leads into “Where is the Dog?” by their fellow Canadian (that’d be Montreal) Helene Barbier. Post-punk is again the flavor, and maybe it’s just the French accent, but it reminds me of something that might’ve slipped into the early ’80s import racks via Ze Records, but not as slick (and discoed-out) as that label’s stuff could be.

The flip side begins with “Elia’s Fate” by Child’s Pose of London. It’s jagged stop-start punk action (like a less angular Slant 6, maybe) but with the slightly muffled demo tape production values I normally associate with the DIY scene. It’s a welcome combination leading into the sweet pop-rock riffing by Patsy’s Rats of Los Angeles.

It’s fitting that the band, who feature Patsy Gelb, daughter of Howe Gelb, on guitar and vocals, hail from the same burg as Color TV, though “Looking At Yr Phone” is considerably more dream-poppy in a classic sense. But right on time, “Waterfall” by Tasmania’s Slag Queens dishes the sorta post-punk-influenced Riot Grrl-inflected verve that immediately springs to mind when I think of these comps, a scenario directly extended by Mr. Wrong’s “Overstimulation / White Male Teacher,” which is actually back-to-back tracks from the Portland, OR outfit’s recent LP Create a Place.

It’s safe to anoint Berkeley, CA’s Kamala & The Karnivores as the long-haulers on this comp, having released a 7-inch back in 1989 on Lookout. Their circa 2017 track “Tiny Steps” is up-tempo punk scoot interjected with introspective bits at the front and guttural yelling of obscenities at the back. Cool. And just as spiffy is San Francisco’s Latitude, who give us another pop-rock-angled number with “Dead End Fantasy,” which resonates a bit like Blondie but with some woozy synths a la Gary Numan.

It segues into the decidedly noisier and disheveled “Classic Beat” by fellow San Franciscans Drama. It’s a short cut, which piques the curiosity, and when a comp manages that it’s doing something right. But the full scoop is that to varying degrees Typical Girls 5 does 16 things right, wrapping up with “Accidente” by Spain’s Linda Guilala, which burns like My Bloody Valentine given a dose of Wedding Present jangle and of course, that ever-present girl moxie. After five albums, Emotional Response’s compilation project hasn’t lost a thing, and that’s anything but typical.

GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-

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