Gits

Mia Zapata would probably prefer that the legacy of the Gits read as the story of a kick-ass punk rock band, rather than her epitaph. Because no matter how you look at this release and want to reach beyond the tragedy of Mia's still unsolved rape and murder, it seems impossible to listen to it without feeling unspeakable sadness. Drawn from a mixture of live recordings, unreleased material and remixes from their debut EP, Seafish Louisville succeeds in chronicling an incendiary rock band and Mia as a truly gifted performer and singer. To its credit, the variances in recording quality are almost indiscernible, placing live and studio recordings together seamlessly. A band vital on the small Seattle scene that was to explode into an international phenomenon (and we're not talking Starbucks), though a couple of bands did manage to amass many of those. This record makes me wish that I had seen the Gits play live, but not quite as badly as the band wishes they still got to see Mia live.