I Play My Bass Loud

Co-founding the Raincoats in 1977 would have been enough to forever cement Gina Birchs importance in music history, but she continued making music and exploring various realms of art throughout the years that followed. I Play My Bass Loud is Birchs debut album as a solo artist, and it calls on her roots as a post-punk pioneer with the Raincoats as often as it ventures into new territory with little regard for parameters of genre or limitations of any kind. The opening title track is built on overlapping bass guitar parts and a stark drum groove, but the production hides layers of dubbed-out vocal echoes, noisy synths, unrecognizable backwards noises, and even what sounds like turntable scratching in the would-be minimal arrangement. The catchiness of the hooks is in full focus, but its the less-obvious details that make the tune so interesting and unique. The album was produced by Youth (whose adventurous techniques have guided albums by U2, Killing Joke, and many more) and he applies this subtle layering to the many quick-changing approaches Birch takes as she jumps from one style to the next. "Wish I Was You" is an enormous alt rock blast, part late-period White Stripes and part Last Splash-era Breeders, with guitar contributions from Thurston Moore upping the 90s energy. Again, there are various electronic squelches and minute production flourishes just underneath the meaty rock elements that drive the song. "I Am Rage" dresses a girl group instrumental with grating guitar noise and lyrics about the overpowering force of righteous anger, and "Feminist Song" taps into the same blend of eerie tension and pop dynamics that made the Raincoats so unique and moving. The way Birch lightheartedly plays with styles and presentation coupled with Youths top-tier production makes I Play My Bass Loud as fun to listen to as it is fascinating. The non-stop flow of ear candy serves as a perfect vehicle for Birchs wonderful songs of joy, frustration, self-acceptance, and experience. Its a loud, celebratory album that perfectly boils down Birchs 40-plus-year journey as a tireless, boundless, and most of all fearless, creator. ~ Fred Thomas