Although I came of age in the '90s, I somehow missed the L7 train. At the time of their performance at Rifflandia, I hadn't seen John Waters's 1994 black comedy Serial Mom since it was in theatres, and they were performing under the name of Camel Lips in that movie, so they were probably a little hard to spot. Furthermore, I didn't get around to watching Natural Born Killers until earlier this year, so I was unaware of that scene where Juliette Lewis beats a redneck to death in a café while "Shitlist" from L7's seminal 1992 album Bricks are Heavy plays on a jukebox.
L7 were never really a part of the grunge or riot grrrl movements. Yet, they were associated with them as both influence and outlier, briefly signing to Sub Pop and famously performing at Rock for Choice in 1991. To old fans and new, the Los Angeles punk rock quartet certainly made their presence known during their set at Rifflandia 2024.
Taking the stage to the sound of "Rumble" by Link Wray, the version featured in Pulp Fiction, L7 grabbed the God of Rock by the short and curlies, and never let go for their entire set. As the initial applause died down, primary vocalist and guitarist Donita Sparks provocatively questioned, "Are you ready to party with the mighty, mighty L7?! Alright! One, two, three, four…"
And just like that, they were off, launching into the riff shredding fierceness of "Andres" from their evocatively titled 1994 album Hungry for Stink, followed by midtempo rock nodder "Stadium West" from their 2019 reunion album Scatter the Rats. Unfortunately, their lingering sound problems became noticeable after performing "Everglade," with Sparks noting the striking similarities between the song's prophetic lyrics from the early '90s and the recent presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
There was a tick in their line noise that persisted throughout much of their set, perhaps all of it, which may have impacted the false start to the subsequent performance of "Bad Things" from their 1997 Sub Pop effort Smell the Magic (also quite the evocative album title). Standing firm with a classic Gibson that fellow guitarist and singer Suzi Gardner referred to as a "flying vagina," Sparks copped to their drop, exclaiming, "We're live! We don't play tapes! We are human beings with flaws, a lot of fucking flaws!"
Given their style and unbridled moxie, the apparent flaws did not hinder the overall quality of their set all that much. Dubbed "the Red Storm," Jennifer Finch grooved on bass with a fluffy, striped tail hanging from her hip, while drummer Demetra Plakas kept their timing punchy. The rhythm section created the framework that let all those pick slides and power stances land so perfectly. These ladies rocked like a bat out of H-E-double-hockey-sticks, humorously dedicating their eventually triumphant take on "Bad Things" to the inflatable waving arms guy that someone was holding up in the crowd, before moving through "Shove," "Shitlist" and beyond.
Following "Fuel My Fire" and "Freak Magnet," L7 later selected the surfy single "Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago." Released in 2017, that marked their first new song in the 21st century as the band came out of a lengthy hiatus to send up Trump's bathroom tweeting habit. Granted, they may not be as prolific as they once were, but they still have a lot to say, and their vibrancy can be felt through generations. I'd never given them a second thought before this set, and they quickly made a fan out of me. Better late than never!