Review
Le Butcherettes
A Raw Youth

"secret consciousness of power is far more delightful than open domination"
Dostoevsky - The Adolescent.

Le Butcherettes came seemingly from out of nowhere a few years ago. In this case, nowhere was more specifically Guadalajara, Mexico.

Fronted by Teresa Suárez, otherwise known as Teri Gender Bender, the band was quick to gain the attention of music notables and began to appear as openers on seemingly every tour from The Deftones, to The Mars Volta and most recently The Melvins, who seem to have been on tour together so long, they may as well just morph into one big supergroup.

Wait, scratch that. We don't want Le Butcherettes to go anywhere. Except upward, which appears to be the path of their trajectory.

A Raw Youth is the band's third full-length and it's a solid, confident release that places an equal-minded emphasis on every sound made. This is no small feat when you have a vocalist/guitarist as talented and assured as Suárez, who is the most unapologetically arresting frontperson since Kathleen Hanna.

Opening with "Shave The Pride" a none-too-subtle dig at the societal need to assert the male gender through facial aesthetics. It's a pummeling track that hammers home their point effectively.

Continuing on a slightly softer (but no less jagged) edge, is "My Mallely" and "Reason To Die Young" both keyboard-laden tracks that manage to almost put the listener at ease before the right hook from left field that is "La Uva", an electronic soundscape featuring Iggy Pop. Another song, "My Half" features John Frusciante.

Now don't be fooled into thinking this one of those lackluster cameo filled albums that use the stunt casting to try and mask the fact that it's lame. There's probably a long line of established and respected musicians that would pay to guest on an album of this caliber.

A Raw Youth is about perseverance through progression. Or maybe that should be pro-aggression. Every sound made on this album is used as a weapon. This shit is dangerous in the best possible way. The album was produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta and Antemasque and it shows a great deal of attention to detail - leaving no sonic stone unturned - as well as a love for the music being created.

These kinds of albums are exciting because it shows a young band with raw talent but seasoned professionalism. A band who very much knows who they are but isn't afraid to not just push, but completely obliterate the boundaries of what they're capable of.