Gravy Train!!!! - Hella Nervous

I should have posted something about Gravy Train!!!! right after my Rappers Delight Club and Bratmobile posts. It would have made a neat little thematic thread. Little girls rapping + riot grrrl = Gravy Train? Something like that. I would have had a more eloquent essay to make the connection, but I kind of messed the order up and now I'm rushing through this as it is. I trust you guys are smart enough to fill in the blanks.

I first saw Gravy Train at a Bratmobile show and despite having a very different approach to feminist politics, the things that made me love Gravy Train are the same things that drew me to Bratmobile. The political bands that I like, the ones that I still find myself listening to well past my crusty punk phase, seem to all have one thing in common - a sense of humor. Fronted by a full figured Mexican girl ordering guys to suck her "muff like a vaccuum cleaner", kicking rhymes about sex and eating (and sometimes both at the same time) in simple but clever couplets, Gravy Train may push the humor to the forefront but the ideas are still there.

And even if you can't get down with the vulgar in-your-face lyrics, you're gonna find it hard to resist the beats. I defy even the most prudish of listeners to not want to shake their ass to "Hella Nervous". It's glitchy and homemade on cheap Casios and drum machines but it's ridiculously catchy. I've seen Gravy Train live a couple times and it's basically a non-stop dance party. I haven't seen them in years but I bet when they play this song, shit still gets out of control.

Not only haven't I seen Gravy Train in a couple years, but I haven't really kept up on their releases much either. A few months after I saw them open for Bratmobile, and bought their self-released four-song EP with "Hella Nervous" on it, they got signed to Kill Rock Stars and put out a record called Hello Doctor. "Hella Nervous" was still the best song on it. I think they've got a few more releases now and I heard somewhere that they went through a line up change or two, but I'm still content to keep replaying this song. The drawback to Gravy Train is that they're kind of a one-trick pony; there's only so many songs about burgers and bouncing titties you can listen to before the novelty wears off. But if you haven't heard them before, download this song because the one trick is fucking brilliant here.

(Click here to order Hello Doctor from Kill Rock Stars.)