What happened when the members of The Donnas turned 21?
They lost some of their rock 'n' roll energy.
The Donnas' fourth full-length album Turn 21, seems like a step back from the high-energy punk rock they released in 1999 on the CD Get Skintight.
Turn 21 has similar lyrical themes as the band's previous albums: dating, boys and sexual innuendo. However, this time around the emphasis of the songs shifts from the music to the vocals. It didn't matter what the lyrics were about on previous albums because the music and the beats were so strong. The lyrics and their themes seem more prominent on Turn 21, which makes the music a sort of background accompaniment.
The Donnas ability to rock has always allowed it to transcend an easy stereotype of little girls with guitars, but that doesn't come across on this album, making The Donnas look like the Britney Spears of punk rock. Many of the songs on the album start out hard but that feeling soon disappears and is often lost in repetitive beats.
Turn 21 wouldn't be as stale if not preceded by the three rock 'n' roll CD gems, Get Skintight, The Donnas and American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine.
My feeling about this album, and the band, is similar to a line from the opening song "Are You Gonna Move It For Me?" "You want to meet me but you wrote a bad review of our show. If you don't like us what are you doing standing in the front row."
Turn 21 is not an accurate reflection of how The Donnas usually rock. However, writing a bad review of this album won't prevent me from pushing my way to the front of the stage at the upcoming show.
The Donnas will perform with Bratmobile and Tuuli at the Launchpad Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and are available at Ticketmaster locations.
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