Last weekend Jennifer Finch, bassist and founding member of the band L7, passed away from brain cancer. This is a devastating loss for punk and alternative rock fans. I can’t count how many times I blasted their classic records like Smell the Magic and Bricks Are Heavy at full volume. They rocked hard with strong messages.
How could anyone forget their classic performance of “Pretend That We’re Dead” on The Late Show with David Letterman?
Even Paul Shaffer got caught up in the moment! Cool stuff!
In 1994 they released what I consider to be their best record, Hungry for Stink, which is today’s pick!
The lead single from the album is “Andres”. It really set the tone for the whole album. They didn’t let up the intensity of their previous songs one bit!
“Stuck Here Again” was another single they released, and it is also a doozy. It’s kind of a drunken sounding march with a twangy guitar hook. The lyrics try to make the best of a bad situation, which is pretty relatable.
Here they are performing “Stuck Here Again” on The Jon Stewart Show. Look at how young Stewart is here! This is way before The Daily Show.
They also performed it on the MTV show 120 Minutes.
Speaking of 120 Minutes that show also aired some incredible footage of L7 when they were on the Lollapalooza tour in 1994. It included some bonkers footage of them backstage interviewing A Tribe Called Quest and Nick Cave.
“Questioning My Sanity” is a song that perhaps resembles “Pretend That We’re Dead” a little too much, but it still rocks pretty hard. I love this song and it is one of my favorites on the record. The staggering little guitar solo is so cool in its simplicity. Plus, its hard to top the vocals. “The TV’s talking to me!” followed by a agonizing scream. Yes!
Here’s L7 performing “Questioning My Sanity” at the Glastonbury Festival in 1994. Killer performance!
They also played it on the MTV show Most Wanted in 1995 and this is a really heavy take on the tune.
“Fuel My Fire” is another highlight of Hungry for Stink. Its perhaps most famous for being covered by The Prodigy on their 1997 album The Fat of the Land.
An underrated track on the album I love is “Baggage”. The way the song slows down into the choruses with the vocals sounding like they are going into a blender is incredible. Awesome guitar solo too.
Hungry for Stink closes with the epic “Talk Box” which sounds like they’re trying to out-Soundgarden Soundgarden. I think they just might have accomplished that feat.
L7 played on the first Warped Tour in 1995. Here is “Talk Box” from that tour. The video title claims its from 1994, but its actually 1995.
As a fun aside, L7 also appeared in the John Waters film Serial Mom around this time. They appeared as a band called Camel Lips and played a song called “Gas Chamber”. Here is the clip from the movie, filmed on location at the old Hammerjacks in Baltimore!
For the Phil’s Phriday Picks readers who want extra credit and really want to take a deep dive into this era, L7 appeared in the documentary movie Not Bad for a Girl. Also in the film are members of Hole, Babes in Toyland, and the Lunachicks. Here is the whole thing in full:
Jennifer Finch left L7 before 1995 ended and didn’t rejoin the band until their reunion in 2014. So, Hungry for Stink was the end of the classic era of L7.
