Civet - Love & War
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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These punk rock kittens have been sharpening their musical claws for years and the fur starts flying here from the first note as singer Liza Graves channels Joan Jett for the Runaways-like "Can't Go Back." There's plenty of throwback to the Runaways here but these cats aren't afraid to take on the boys too and they answer The Stooge's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with "Come On (I Wanna Be Your Girl)." But Civet is nobody's pet and they make it clear on the turf-marking "Sunset Strip" that they're not interested in nostalgia; they're evolving a sound, their sound, and doing it here partly by virtue of the fact that this effort is self-produced. The attitude that oozes from Grave's tough-girl style of singing makes these felines sound untouchable, especially when the barbed-wire wall of guitar from sister Suzi Carmichael kicks in. There's definitely no vulnerability in sight but not everything is grim to these grimalkins; party anthem "L.A. Nights" is really the only song specifically about carefree moments but the entire album is designed to provoke exactly that. Fun anytime but if you're planning on some late-night alley-creepin' you had best take Love & War with you.
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Civet - Love & War
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