Conspiracy theorists have long believed that some of the most successful live albums of all time were doctored to correct performance errors and enhanced with wild audience reactions from Super Bowl crowds. So when the hard rocking gals of L7 discovered tapes of their shows made in Omaha, Nebraska, and Osaka, Japan, they displayed their wicked sense of humor by using a high school marching band's rendition of such L7 hits as "Shit List" and "Pretend We're Dead" to segue into the live tracks on their new album, L7 Live: Omaha To Osaka.

The marching band, making its Riot Grrrl debut, rose to the occasion, providing horns where before only screeching guitars had dared to tread. "We came up with the idea of having an overture for one of our shows in Los Angeles," explains guitarist/vocalist Donita Sparks, "so we got the John Marshall High School marching band to do it, because they're in my neighborhood. Now, they're playing our songs at their football games. Whenever the team fucks up, they play 'Shit List!'"

The "warts and all" Omaha To Osaka is laced with between-song banter in which the jocular women compare themselves to "a whole band of Phyllis Dillers." Casually joking with the rowdy, mixed crowd in Omaha about "party, bowling, beaver and pussy," the foursome, which also includes guitarist Suzi Gardner, bassist Gail Greenwood and drummer Dee Plakas, skillfully balance raunch with sarcasm.

But it's the music that ultimately grabs you. Alternately punk and hard rock, with traces of pop, L7 have been putting out albums for a decade now, first with indie labels Epitaph and Sub Pop, and later with Slash and Warner/Reprise. Suddenly without a label after leaving Warner Bros. last year, the band sought an outlet for their gritty, slice-of-life tunes. Omaha to Osaka, released on the indie label Man's Ruin Records, allows them to keep the L7 name alive while they keep their options open for alternate distribution. "We've taken so many stabs in many different directions and we've used the opportunities that have come in front of us," says Gardner, "but we'd have to call the Psychic Friends Network if we want to know what label we'll be on."

In the meantime, fans hungry for stink can view the band in The Beauty Process, a film short by Krist Novoselic which combines L7 concert footage with a comedic, behind-the-scenes peek at the music industry. "His movies are really low budget and very super underground," says Sparks, who was tapped along with her bandmates to film her role during the band's downtime while on tour with Novoselic's band, Sweet 75. "He'd call us and say, 'Hey, today's our day off. Let's do the scene.' And we'd do it."

Back in Los Angeles at tour's end, the Sparks/Gardner writing team is already hard at work, putting together material for the next L7 album in anticipation of their imminent signing. "We're doing a really good job at writing right now," says Gardner. "I really can't wait to get it out there so kids can be sitting in their cars, smoking pot, listening to us."

Parked beside the gridiron, naturally.

ADRIANNE STONE
(December 14, 1998)