The Applicators - What's Your Excuse - Cornerstone R.A.S.

Review by: Jennifer Perkins

Well its inevitable that a little hometown pride is going to be reflected in this review. Yes, The Applicators are from my beloved hometown of Austin. On top of that this aging riot grrrl has a real soft spot for all girl punk bands. In a town known as the live music capital of the world, female musicians are unfortunately still far and few between. Don't let the pretty faces fool you, these punk princesses are full of enough piss and vinegar to intimidate GG Allin.

The Applicators know the winning punk rock formula like the back of their hands: play everything fast, power chords are a winner every time, swear words are cool. Sure, they have all that down pat, but they also have a pretty keen pop sensibility under their spiked belts. What's Your Excuse is full of smart pop punk hooks, "U Got It All" & "I Don't Bleed" are perfect examples. On top of that, unlike most punk bands these days The Applicators have talent.

Picture The Red Aunts meets The Ramones doing covers of Sleater Kinney. No really, they cover "Good Things" and although I feel a Sleater Kinney cover coming from all girl punk band is a little predictable, they do it well. It could have been worse, they could have covered Bikini Kill. They also have a cover of the Dead Milkmen's "Except Violent School". If anything the covers show the broad spectrum their influences.

What's Your Excuse is every bit as tough and driving as any punk rock album I have ever heard, by boys or girls. Who cares what gender they are if the music makes your adrenaline go and want to don some plaid and fishnet, then it is doing the trick and The Applicators do just that.