Favorite Albums: 2000-2004
44. Donnas, Spend The Night
Original position on my Stylus ballot: #17
While I will always love these ladies (The hair-tossing? Buddyhead mocking them as “4 pothead geeks who like to read books”? The giggly in-the-studio documentary that came with this CD? I could faint…), I will admit that their slow disappearance from the scene following their blah Butch Walker collabo (is there any other kind?) Gold Medal has put some footprints on my fantasy. Donna A.’s vocals never quite sold their Runaways 2K agenda as well as Donna R.’s guitar did, and they were too retro-formal to really captivate a large audience. It’s true, it’s true. Sniffle.
“Take It Off” still grabs the gonads, though, and the guys from Redd Kross help Spend The Night sound like a Major Label Debut should, shiny and ready to conquer. The consistent message is that they’re awesome, drinks will be drunk tonight and if sex isn’t had, it’s because some boy was being an idiot. It could use one more “I get what I want” song and one less “you’re not giving me what I want” song, but when the band’s blazing and the sisterly back-up vocals burst out, it’s a great party all the same.
