I’m someone who is fond of music with feminist themes, particularly punk bands like the seminal feminist group Bikini Kill. For those who don’t know, Bikini Kill initially started out as a zine in protest of the rampant sexism in the punk rock scene during the 90s before becoming a female-fronted punk band.
Picking up where Bikini Kill left off, Leperwitch, an alternative electronic artist from Chattanooga, Tennessee, also runs an online zine dedicated to women and femme-identifying people in experimental music genres.
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I hope to introduce other LGBTQ folks, especially queer trans people of color, to something that helps them survive and thrive.
Recently, Leperwitch released an independent album titled Curse of Consciousness, and it goes hard. Leperwitch shows off her lexicon of experimental music regularly through her zine, so you can expect it to sound raw asf. To be able to take something as unpleasant as nails scratching against a chalkboard and turn it into a headbanging tune is talent showing a profound knowledge of musical experimentation.
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You also have Leperwitch’s gruff vocals and equally angry lyrics tapping into that internalized aggression that most women feel in their day-to-day life, but for societal reasons, keep it tucked away. It is for this reason that my favorite song in this track is It Only Hurts For A Lifetime.
The song starts out with a hard rhythm followed by her yelling: ”Do I have to tell another man I’m sorry!” She continues, asking: “Do I have to keep making myself smaller!” These lyrics really speaks to that societal rage I have as a woman, especially as a transgender woman.
In a Q&A I once saw with Leperwitch, she stated that reason her singing voice is as aggressive as it is was because of an incident where someone compared her original singing voice to Amy Lee from Evanescence, and from that point on she tried to make her voice less palatable in response.
Women in music still face so much discrimination both in the industry and in everyday life. Leperwitch’s work highlighting women in obscure niches is something we need more of. She’s clearly dedicated to the cause through her art, and she deserves far more recognition.
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