Album Notes

Those kids in Riot a Go Go can pump out the jams. The punk-rock world's answer to It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, it's been years since any record has sounded so angry and so happy. Riot a Go Go calls itself dance-punk, which would be straight-up ballsy if it wasn't so true. Drummer Matt plays like Dave Grohl-I mean, old-school Nirvana Dave Grohl-trapped in a disco karaoke bar. And singer/guitarist Nova Lee screams so hard, you wonder how they tape her lungs back together after each song. "Cool Girl" is loud and funky old-school dance beats with a killer surf-punk guitar and bass trade-off. If there's any justice in the world, the call-and-response verses of "High Society" will have mobs of SF scene kids screaming the lyrics back in Nova's face at the Cow Palace every Saturday night for the rest of eternity. -Matthue Roth, Zero Mag 2/04 Any punk band with a female singer and the word "Riot" in their name will inevitably draw comparisons to Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill. However, Riot-A-Go-Go's sound has more in common with the Runaways, Penetration, and other '70s punk bands than the legacy of riot grrrl. The songs blaze by in two minutes or less, but the melodies are so catchy you'll be driven to go back and listen again. Riot-A-Go-Go keep it real, carrying the torch of old-school political punk while delivering the fresh energy needed to take it into the future. -Ricky Reis, SF Weekly