The Butchies -- featuring former
Team Dresch-er Kaia Wilson -- deliver a palatable, airwave-deserving take on punk rock with
Make Yr Life. Unfortunately, because of the homophobic state of commercial radio, you're not likely to hear passionate, sugary blasts like "Second Guess" or the sexually charged "Send Me You" rocking from the higher reaches of the FM dial. Still, the group's fourth album is notably strong, proving once and for all that lesbian songwriter Wilson is a righteous babe in her own right, augmented by the powerful rhythms of drummer Melissa York and bassist Alison Martlew. Complicated emotional fare, like the coming-of-age number "17" (in which Wilson chronicles "smoking fags with fags with fags with fags") and "Tell the Others," fuses the frontwoman's heartfelt singing with immediate song structures. The band's quiet, drastic reworking of
the Outfield's 1985 pop hit "Your Love" just may be the cover version of the year. If you can get past the alternative lifestyle piece, which most with an open mind should, the Butchies prove themselves to be skilled purveyors of relationship rock, no matter what the preference. ~ John D. Luerssen