Both of these albums were handed to me at the Death Trap by Julia Ryckman, because they’re by her Saskatoon friend Tiffany Paige—who she did a 12” split with last year as Slattern. Yet another positive attribute we can add to Ryckman’s list—she keeps good company. Paige, as Lipstickface, blatantly sing-raps about sex, backed by blunt drum machines. So yeah, it’s a must-listen for all you riot grrrls/riot grrrl fans/riot boiiis out there. Thing is though, Lipstickface gives me such a raging hard-on while she’s doing it, and she does it with the haunting minimalism of Young Marble Giants or the Pop Group (which might add to the boner that I’m pretty sure that she’s intentionally giving me). Over 15 tracks and nearly an hour, Lipstickface has some sure-fire hits (“Make My Day”), exploratory sound art (“Oh Baby” and the intro and outro) and some house-referencing madness like that of Pictureplane (“Dirty Boy” and “Pretty Baby”).
And as if the mad post-punk respect didn’t stop there, Paige also drums in Aunty Panty, which rounds up all these aforementioned musical references but slanted the other way, guitar-driven, with drum machine-informed drumming. (i.e. 4 on the floor, and straight eighth or on a tightly closed hi-hat or cymbal, and tons of other rip-it-up-and-start-again aural treats.) Aunty Panty’s release is certainly way more cohesive than that of Gimme (although I really admire Gimme’s huge scope) and it doesn’t have a single hiccup for the entire six tracks and 15 minutes. If you’re into two-minute scream fests (“Mal Au Coeur”), or four-minute broods of a two-chord jam (“Mama Don’t Like You”), pick AP EP up or see them whenever they come into town, which I currently only assume they would. I mean, c’mon, it’s Saskatoon! I mean, yeah, Saskatoon! Fuck yeah, Saskatoon. (Independent, www.myspace.com/lalalalipstickface // www.myspace.com/auntypantpantpanty) Taylor Burgess
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989