Before there was Avril Lavigne or any of the other wholesale girl "rockers" of today, there was Juliana Hatfield. This woman has been playing the independent North-American music scene for the last decade, and has (for better or for worse) never strayed from the fringe. With 1995's killer "Only Everything" still a regular in my album rotation, "Total System Failure" had quite a bit to live up to, and it did.
The album starts off with a fifteen second burst of indecipherable noise before moving onto the searing "Metal Fume Fever" and, as always, Hatfield's supremely saccharine "little girl" singing voice provides a very sweet contrast indeed to her heavy, rough guitar style and rocking rhythm section. Juliana is a very good lyricist, and her clever (often cutting and sarcastic) verse is not at all lost in any of the cuts on the disc. She sings with vitriol in her voice, mocking the irresponsibility and apathy that has claimed so much of our world ("it's my body, but it's not my responsibility"). Mikey Welsh, who went on to play bass in Weezer for a short period of time, supplies some fantastically heavy 4-string-slinging, complimenting drummer Zephan Courtney's simple, pumping beats perfectly. Almost all of the songs on the album are rockers (with the exception of the morose love-pop song "Noblese Oblige" which is still pretty heavy anyway), which is a departure, as her other records have at least a few hushed numbers. It is of little consequence, however, since at no point does the disc drag or make the listener lose interest.
If you're looking for a happy album, you won't find it buried within this parade of biting lyrics and crushing guitars. You will, however, find a very well-written, clever, often funny, and very involving personal rant sung in a sugary-girlish voice and backed by heavy metal thunder. "I think I love you" she sings on the sarcastic ode to divorce "Let's Get Married" - don't worry, Juliana, the feeling is more than mutual.
By: J. Alexander Vance
