In the early ’90s, when riot grrrls tore up college radio on one side of the dial and Lilith sirens strummed gently on the other, Juliana Hatfield fell somewhere in the middle. Less ferocious than Courtney, less sappy than Jewel, her brand of literate, grungy pop made the former Blake Baby stand out among a hundred other underground rockers looking for a ticket out of the Cambridge club scene.
We talk a lot about “selling out” on this site, but we don’t talk nearly enough about my #1 indie rock crush of 1994.
Juliana Hatfield has a new album out and it comes with a free digital diatribe. The best part deals with selling out, which isn’t surprising given the singer’s well-documented beef with label execs for shelving God’s Foot (it inspired the smart-ass “Sellout” on the Please Do Not Disturb EP). Here are some highlights:
I sold most of my records more than ten years ago and since then everything I do is measured against that … How do I get your attention? Implants? Do I have to take my clothes off to be heard? Well, I put a chunk of my naked flesh on the cover of my album. It’s the viscera where my art comes from. But you don’t know that. You’ll just see a sexy chopped-off torso…
It’s impossible to sellout these days. “Selling out” is an antiquated concept. Everyone is licensing their songs to car commercials. That didn’t used to be okay. Bob Dylan is in a Victoria’s Secret ad. The most talented girl singers have turned themselves into strippers. A notch above porn stars. ‘Cause sex sells. The next step would be for them to actually have sex in their videos. Mariah Carey has implants. Christina Aguilera has implants. Gwen Stefani has implants. Even her. She finally gave in. And Beyoncé is on her hands and knees evoking doggy-style sex in one of her videos. And she has so much (singing) talent! Why, Beyoncé, why? Why, world, why? Why do you demand this of her?
You get the point. You can read the whole mission statement here. Juliana’s always been outspoken, and I don’t mind her nonsense ranting. I love her music (Only Everything‘s my fave). I haven’t heard China; I’m gonna go buy it today, despite the negative early buzz.
If you don’t own any Hatfield, buy the Gold Stars compilation. “Everybody Loves Me But You” is heart wrenching. “Spin The Bottle” you should know from Reality Bites. And her first and biggest hit, the raw love/hate confessional “My Sister,” remains among her best work. Along with this fictional sibling, a bevy of other disappointing characters – immature boys, married men, vapid celebrities ? float in and out of Juliana’s consciousness and inspire her narratives. She chirps and cracks and grabs the listener’s attention every time, even when fumbling with another language.
One of the new China cuts is streaming here. Purchase the CD directly from Juliana here.
Wait, Gwen Stefani has implants?
UPDATE: Joey Headset found this new MP3 on Juliana’s site. Thanks Joey!
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The girl got a point!
first live show i ever saw.
i got no idols!!!
being naked couldn’t hurt.
biggest crush from 1993.
what the shit Gwen Stefani has implants?
that’s bananas! :-/
B A N A N A S!
ranting about selling out and then selling out is the new way to sell out… sexy too
“first live show i ever saw.”
Before she had a record out?
Um… I hate to say it but I’m kinda loving the torso shot. Does that mean I missed the point?
She was my hero! And maybe still…
There aren’t too many riot grrls to look up to anymore…
That sucks about negative early buzz on the new album. It’s arguably her best album since “Bed”, and certainly miles above the adult contemporary shlock of “In Exile Deo”. It’s a dirty, distorted, personal album. It could very well alienate some long time fans, but I’ve been following her since 1993 and I haven’t been this excited about one of her new records since 1998 at the very least. Give it a shot.
that torso could sell a lot of records …
Juliana Hatfield doesnt even have a sister
“There aren’t too many riot grrls to look up to anymore…”
what about kathleen hannah?
gwen must have gotten tons of work … she never used to wear skirts in the no doubt videos and you can see her legs were pretty thick compared to the rest of her … but now she’s running around nekked … plus she’s pushing 40 that’s usually not the age women singers START running around nekked unless they’ve had work with lots of bandages B A N D A G E S!
Re: Gwynn, I hate to think it is so, but I think it is so:
http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/005191.html
Re: Julianna, she is so crazy fun to listen to, but obviously still a bit depressed. I heart “Only Everything” too. It was great to live here in NC when she was on Mammoth. And how about those Blake Babies!
hahahaha
B A N D A G E S
“You Left the state without me – shoes how much you care about me – i could call but you could hang up…”
Man – Little Pieces was my favorite! Juliana is so great…..
No way Gwen got implants. Maybe she’s wearing a padded bra in those photos. I mean, her last two videos she is rockin’ the flat look, which is totally and completely awesome! She’s fine without them and she knows it.
just thought I’d pop in and mention that Kathleen Hanna is way too fucking dumb for anyone to be looking up to as a role model. bye!
The Gold Stars collection is crap! I guess it’s called The Juliana Hatfield Collection and not a “best of” for a reason, as it’s missing sooooo much, and way to heavy on late 90′s and unreleased material.
Only one song from her best album? Sure “Everybody Loves Me But You” is the best to have from Hey Babe, but you need “Forever Baby,” “Nirvana” and “I See You” as well, instead of all of the second half of that collection.
I guess I need to go back a couple posts and put up a better Juliana Hatfield best of ;)
I am aroused by Juliana’s viscera. (Oh, what a world!) And to be fair, Gwen needed to get implants because she can’t sing for shit.
Man – know i wiah still had – Become What You are – I am really craving it… Damn itunes doesnt have it either!
That “digital diatribe” could have used an editor.
Only Everything is seriously one of the best albums of the 90′s…that song she sings in french is just so fucking cute it’s obnoxious.
Yes, I encourage you to post alternate tracklists for GOLD STARS. As much as I love Juliana, that “Every Breath You Take” cover was SO BAD. How about “For The Birds” instead? Loved that one.
I justed got the itunes version of the album so can anyone let me know if I am totally missing out on the booklet, pics?
As for the album, I like it. It reminds me a little of a more laid back “Total Systems
Failure” (which means it not very laid back at all)! If all you know are the early albums you’ll be shocked. It’s still melodic, but Juliana has been playing guitar the last few years like she’s trying to get Neil Young to put her in Crazy House. Very raw.
There’s one pretty, ballad “Hole In The Sky,” but Juliana sings it over the most rudimentary guitar that it is grungey too. Cool track. Also, the lyrics are great – Juliana’s typical angsty take on the world along with a few bad/bizarre lyrics here or there.
Thumbs up from me. There’s your unsollicited review, folks!
selling out = the new indie.
(nostalgic) ahh the nineties! how i miss them.
So what if Gwen did? They couldn’t have been very big. Juliana seems blessed with a decent rack. She’d probably feel different about it if she wasn’t. I chime in when the discussion turns to the boobs.
I just want to know if she’s still a virgin.
whoa whoa whoa whoa son, you gotta back shit up when you make flat accusations like “Kathleen Hanna is dumb.” What’s the basis?
If Juliana is still a virgin someone should hook her up with Steve Carrell.
Also, if she is a virgin, that is some way wasted hotness.
No riot-grrrl role models?
Carrie Brownstein? Corin Tucker? Janet Weiss?
The diatribe was very “Corgan-esque.”
I like the song she has streaming on the front page of her site… Here’s a direct link: http://www.julianahatfield.com/stayawake.mp3 . I wasn’t that into her music back in the 90s but I kinda like the new, pissed off Juliana.
Anybody else have the kinda gross and definitely weird version of Only Everything that is covered in brown fur? I guess it has to do with the buffalo but I never could quite figure it out.
Didn’t Juliana appear on an episode of My So Called Life as a suicidal runaway? Does anyone else remember that or is my memory just making it up?
I think she was dead homeless girl. I think it was either the Christmas or Thankgiving episode when Clair Danes’ character gets into a fight with her mom.
Juliana was on My So Called Life as a sort of “ghost of Christmas Future”-type character. A homeless ghost, I think. Ghost of a homeless girl, that is.
Either way, I still have “Become What You Are” and I really miss those days. I could have a crush on a girl star because of her character, her timidity and innocence, or whatever, not her body. My ’94 crushes: Juliana Hatfield and Kim Deal. ’05 crushes: Lohan and Jessica Alba? What’s up with that?
Wait, strike that. Honorable ’05 crush: Katrina Kearns from Sufjan’s backup band the Illinoisemakers. Whoa. She’s legit in every way.
“My ’94 crushes: Juliana Hatfield and Kim Deal. ’05 crushes: Lohan and Jessica Alba? What’s up with that?”
I think that means in ’94 you had still had some soul and intellect left, and that now you’re a soulless braindead consumerist follow-the-leader hipster lowlife.
hahahahah ouch!
It’s not a sellout if nobody buys it…
Love, love,love Juliana.
And her torso.
She was also on the adventures of Pete and Pete as a lunchlady. (but you probably knew that already)
(I have a weird thing with Juliana, I always encounter her shows completely at random, just walking around and there they are, which wouldn’t be that odd, except it’s happened like seven times. Once I got to have coffee with her and have a nice chat about lyrics that were not yet songs before a show in Indiana, and once I did a bit of drinking with Wesley Willis and her in Asbury Park. She’s quite smart and grounded, especially compared to some other artists these days.)
I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised that you consider Juliana’s concerns “nonsense ranting.” This is after all followed by a post mocking Britney Spears for the crime of being fat while pregnant rather than dealing with her musical crimes against humanity.
>”"My ’94 crushes: Juliana Hatfield and Kim Deal. >’05 crushes: Lohan and Jessica Alba? What’s up with >that?”
>I think that means in ’94 you had still had some >soul and intellect left, and that now you’re a s
>soulless braindead consumerist follow-the-leader >hipster lowlife.”
I was merely making a point that popstars with semi-mainstream exposure in ’94 had substance, and now it’s all shallowness.
sorry to offend the hipster thought police
I bought the album on iTunes and THEN I got a CD advance WITHOUT THE TORSO. So I lose.
yes i thought exhile sent her into “easy listening bar rock”. The aging music critics loved it. Good to see her back to kicking ass. If she attempts another exhile-style album hopefully it will sound more like beautiful creature and not like Sheryl Crow.
kris
Kathleen Hanna is awesome. Juliana Hatfield is trying too hard. Gwen Stefani didn’t get implants, she had a baby. Having children makes your boobs look bigger. DUH.
CASE CLOSED.