At long last, the new Hole album has a release date. On April 27th, you can find us in our best ripped fishnets, floral dress, and smeared lipstick, listening to Nobody’s Daughter. The band is also scheduled to play a show at South by Southwest next month. In honor of this momentous occasion, here are five reasons we think Courtney Love’s latest is cause for celebration.
1. Hole albums are totally great.
I know that’s a bit trite, but it’s true. Here’s an experiment to try at home: Get a group of girls together. Put on
. Now let the arguments commence about which song is the best (“‘Violet,'” “No—’Miss World!'” and on and on) and what monumental adolescent experiences were happening while listening to it. It will be like a ’70s consciousness raising group, only with a way better soundtrack.
2. Courtney Love will say more crazy stuff in the press.
In this age of celebrities with media training and polished sound bytes, Love’s propensity for speaking her mind is incredibly welcome. She already told Spin that Daughter producer Linda Perry “gave me probably the best advice I ever received, which is to become a lesbian.” We’re dying to know what she will say next.
3. The whole bad mom narrative is tiresome.
Yes, Love is, at this point, better known for being a bad widow to Kurt Cobain; having a bad body image, indulging in what seems to be a lot of cosmetic surgery; and with daughter Frances Bean taken away from her, a bad mom. While her transgressions are many, they’re also getting a little old. This album hopefully provides us all with something new to talk about: Love as musician.
Hole’s recent performance on British talk-show Jonathan Ross
4. Tour possibilities!
While it’s true that Eric Erlandson and Melissa Auf der Maur aren’t playing on the album or anywhere else with Love, a Hole tour is still an exciting possibility. What songs will Love cover? And will there be any chance that they’ll bring the heart-shaped glitter barrettes from the Live Through This tour? (Pretty please!)
5. We need more angry women in pop culture.
In American pop culture, we have plenty of vapid celebutantes (Paris Hilton, any Kardashian), nice girls (Taylor Swift), and trainwrecks (Lindsay Lohan). But where are the women who are pissed off? Here’s to hoping the Hole album will herald a return to the angry woman, both in rock and beyond.
Marisa Meltzer is the author of Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music
and an expert on the difference between vagina music and cunt music. Follow her on Tumblr here.