Taking a 13-year break was possibly the best thing Nineties noise-punk queens Babes in Toyland could’ve done. If anything, they’re even better now than they were in their heyday.
Navigating a set-list drawn from the Minneapolis trio’s three albums, 1990-1995 – from “Sweet ’69” and “Handsome & Gretel” to “Spit to See the Shine” and beyond – the Babes have lost nothing after all these years. New bassist Clara Salyer has given them a newfound sense of commitment and drive, possibly pushing original Babes Kat Bjelland on guitar and vocals and Lori Barbero on drums into new realms of hard-rockin’ ecstasy. The former’s corrosive screams reverberated within the best guitar tone of her career, while the latter absolutely pounded a practically cymbal-less beat.
Multitudes gathered beneath heavily overcast skies close to bursting and happily submitted to the near-metal assault. Plenty of graying heads rinsed in Manic Panic purple were in attendance – those who lost their virginity when Kurt Cobain was still alive – but a surprisingly large swath of the audience were in their tweens, teens, and 20s. Clearly their parents’ copies of Babes LPs like Fontanelle and Nemesisters had been passed down.
Babes in Toyland have returned to an audience larger than they enjoyed originally. Their beefier sound made Bjelland’s backstage promise of new material tantalizing. Don’t call this a comeback.
It’s a revitalization.This article appears in November 6 • 2015.
