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Go Betty Go

Worst Enemy (2004)
Side One Dummy Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: KirbyPuckett
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on August 6th 2004

I’m tired, I didn’t get much sleep last night and I just wrapped up an eight hour shift at CompUSA dealing with the morons who plague customer service.

Thanks to a few friends I have in the business I have an advanced copy of Doom 3 waiting to be installed on my rig.

My mom is nagging me because the grass desperately needs to be mowed.

In a couple hours I have a date lined up with one sweet girl.

Topping it all off I hate female fronted punk bands.

Despite all the lucrative opportunities that will be tempting my attention for the evening Punknews.org comes first. I respect Scott, Aubin, and Adam giving me the opportunity to be a part of the staff so I’m putting the reviewing ahead of everything in my path.

I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t get into female fronted punk bands. The majority of the time they’re angry, bitchy, feminists who growl into the mic in hopes of grabbing the ears of the males that are so quick to put them down. It’s obvious I have a bad taste in my mouth while iTunes loads the CD up.

When the first track “You’re Your Worst Enemy” fired up with surging guitars that would give any So-Cal punk rock group a run for their money, tag teamed with a tolerable female voice, I was quite impressed. The musical breakdown between the chorus and verses are reminiscent of early 80’s hardcore punk mixed with a touch of surf rock. The environment blends perfectly with Nicollete Vilar’s unassailable, but not butch voice. Keeping the listener on their toes, “It’s Too Bad” is delivered more so in the disposition of Element 101 or Fabulous Disaster. Their cultural Mexican background is displayed on the rapid “Son Mis Locuras” sung completely in Spanish. Don’t let the foreign language turn you off though, it’s a great opportunity to sulk in their musical talents, Michelle Rangel’s bass line is intense and Aixa Vilar can beat the skins with respectable skill, matched with the smooth guitar riff in the middle of the song deploys a worthy effort. Aside from slick musicianship the backup vocals are one of the most appealing parts of this five song debut for the ladies on Side One Dummy. All of the ladies deliver such soothing noises from their mouths that it puts a sense of comfort into a transient punk rock record.

Worst Enemy had disappointment written all over it for me however, by the time the fifteen minutes of music ended I was forced to take advantage of the repeat function in iTunes a few more times (so much for playing Doom 3 tonight). Go Betty Go aren’t much more than a typical punk band but in terms of female versions dripping from the genre they’re worlds ahead of the rest of the pack.

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Anonymous (June 12, 2007)

why the hell do reviewers always think that people give two shits about their lousy lives? "oh, boo fucking hoo, i have to review another record"/
dude, shut the fuck up and stop writing reviews

Couldn't have said it better myself. Holy fuck, dude, promise me two things: don't bother ever writing reviews for anymore new albums/eps/whatever-the-fuck, and go cut the grass before I smack you for your mother.

Anonymous (January 27, 2005)

wannabee Dance Hall Crashers

Anonymous (October 15, 2004)

this ep is just a start of this talented soon to be NO DOUBT 2 . they r bomb ass, specially live. go betty go rocks!!!!

Anonymous (August 27, 2004)

wow i went to see go betty go on the trobadour and michell was just the coolest and down to earth person i have ever meet, i ask her if she would take a picture with mu sister and a friend and she said sure and then finally with me and she said alright to the she was kicking it next to me when avoid one thing was playing so the only thing i have to say is michell your hot and never change your personality ever when you get bug ang rich and allways keep sweet and cute ................................Dr_GREENTHUMB

Anonymous (August 14, 2004)

really bad.

Sideonedummy polished this up a bit. Thier original cd was just underproduced.

Anyway, this is a local LA band, and I've seen them play with other latin bands and this is just horrible. DOn't bother with Go Betty Go.

Sara(no h)

Anonymous (August 11, 2004)

I did sense quite a bit of "know your role" sexism in the review, but I mean it's also annoying how many girls are avowed feminists and bitch me out for holding the door open for them. Yet most of them indulge in American subcultures, which never went against having sex.

-BSD

Anonymous (August 10, 2004)

I actually have no idea what the album sounds like. I just wanted to say that the review was either a well executed parody lampooning the inherent sexism of the current popular, um, "punk" (meaning popular Warp tour shizzle) scene or the author is showing his stripes as a dorkus not worthy of writing for this site. If this guy's for real, fucking dump him. He should go back to writing for his high school newspaper -- or, better yet, quit writing altogether.

Anonymous (August 10, 2004)

"Quit talking about your girlfriend, because you can't be older than 20, and this isn't going to be the last meat pit you ever wreck. You're going to hate yourself when said girl is caught taking on two at once in the boy's bathroom at a show.
-BSD"

wow. you're a prick.

Anonymous (August 10, 2004)

Not ones that mean anything more than getting a little uh-uh.

-BSD

Anonymous (August 10, 2004)

To the comment below:

People under 20 can't/don't have girlfriends?

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

Quit talking about your girlfriend, because you can't be older than 20, and this isn't going to be the last meat pit you ever wreck. You're going to hate yourself when said girl is caught taking on two at once in the boy's bathroom at a show.

-BSD

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

saw them in AZ and they did a pretty great job, good enough for me to buy the cd at thier booth. I cant get worst enemy out of my cd player. definetly one of the most original bands i have heard in a while..they have a song in spanish that rock and i dont even speak spanish...

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

"just because the Postal Service is huge right now, it doesn't make punk mail dominated."

hahahaha

p.s. this band is boring

xmidipunkbastardx (August 9, 2004)

"THis band SUCKS. If this was a guy band doing the same style music and the same sound...there would be no chance in hell they would be on the label they are on now. It's just because they're a "girl band" and look "cute" except for the fat one and the dorky one.."

so fucking what?
a female voice can make a band a whole lot different... could you imagine LEATHERFACE without frankies voice? some types of music are defined over the fucking voice - so if a regular punk band features female voices that does make a whole lot of difference.

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

schoolyardheroes.com

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

THis band SUCKS. If this was a guy band doing the same style music and the same sound...there would be no chance in hell they would be on the label they are on now. It's just because they're a "girl band" and look "cute" except for the fat one and the dorky one..

Anonymous (August 9, 2004)

They aint bad, but they're no Heidi though.

Anonymous (August 8, 2004)

stop betty stop

Fuzzy (August 8, 2004)

I watched their set at the Cleveland Warped Tour, and was kind of disappointed. I had been sort of excited, because they were signed to S1D, but the sound quality at Warped was so terrible that I have no real clue what this band sounds like. You could barely hear the (amazingly attractive) singer's vocals.

Anonymous (August 8, 2004)

"is it just me or does punk rock seem mail dominated? not trying to offend anyone, but it does seem like that to me"

Mail!!!! that's a good one! send in the clowns, as they say. huh?

Anonymous (August 8, 2004)

"just because the Postal Service is huge right now, it doesn't make punk mail dominated. "

"is it just me or does punk rock seem mail dominated? not trying to offend anyone, but it does seem like that to me"

eh, Male?

Anonymous (August 8, 2004)

"why do girl fronted bands have the dumbest fucking names?"
well, they are fronted by girls. what do you expect?

notaclevername (August 7, 2004)

aside from the overgeneralization about "bitchy feminists," this review kind of made me want to hear this band (plus, they're always touring with flogging molly, which gives them cool points [very different, mind you, from scene points])