Five songs that Gal Raver wishes she wrote:
My new HOLD ME DOWN doesnโt come with a playlist (not yet). But enough folks have asked me what I was listening to while writing this rock-and-roll suspense that I realized I needed to think about the songs that inspired its tough protagonist, Gal Raver, a clubland survivor with a history beyond the hits. So, yeah, these songs are in regular rotation on my playlist. More to the point, theyโd be on Galโs, too.
L7: โFast and Frighteningโ
This one always gets me going โ Donita Sparksโ trilled โr,โ the ferocity of Suzi Gardnerโs punk-metal guitar. Whatโs not to like? A slash-and-burn track by the founders of Rock for Choice, โF&Fโ evokes the bandโs live energy more than the better-known grunge grind of โPretend Weโre Dead.โ โSheโs got so much clit, she donโt need no balls.โ
Sleater-Kinney: โTurn It Onโ
True story: I was driving to work when this song came on WMBR, my local college station, forcing me to pull over and listen. A slow grind of passion that builds to something more desperate than orgasmic, this cut showcases the raw chemistry between Corin Tuckerโs wailing vocals and Carrie Brownsteinโs urgent guitar. A lot has been made of how this album, โDig Me Out,โ chronicles the breakdown of Tucker and Brownsteinโs romance, but this cut captures that moment when it just โฆ has โฆ to โฆ happen.
A.K.A.C.O.D.: โSun Burns Outโ
Released as one of Monique (โBourbon Princessโ) Ortizโs many low-rock projects, this cut features her heady contralto and liquid bass in its own quickie noir drama. When she lived in Boston, Ortiz was often referred to in relation to Mark Sandman/Morphineโs bass-centric sound, but she has long held her own.
The Darts: โRevolutionโ
Power punk pop for now people! Amped-up garage rock, complete with Farfisa organ and a shout-along chorus led by the relentlessly chipper Nicole (โLove Me Notsโ) Laurenne, this gleeful anthem transcends the guilty-pleasure dome.
Deap Vally: โSmile Moreโ
A manifesto with hooks, delivered with a sardonic sneer, โSmile Moreโ captures the complicated reality of being female today with punk directness. โYes, I am a feminist, but that is not why I started doing this,โ intones the LA duoโs guitarist/singer Lindsey Troy. Galโs a survivor from another generation, but, hell yeah, she sings along.
A former journalist, Clea Simon is the Boston Globe-bestselling author of three nonfiction books and 29 mysteries. including the new psychological suspense HOLD ME DOWN. While most of these (like A Cat on the Case) are cat โcoziesโ or amateur sleuth, she also writes darker crime fiction, like the rock and roll mystery World Enough, named a โmust readโ by the Massachusetts Book Awards. Her new psychological suspense HOLD ME DOWN (Polis Books) returns to the music world, with themes of PTSD and recovery, as well as love in all its forms. She can be reached at www.cleasimon.com, on Twitter @Clea_Simon and on Instagram @cleasimon_author
