Skip the Needle -- Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up
Bay Area "black dyke rockers" Skip the Needle bring groove and joy to the revolution on their new album Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up
Skip the Needle describes themselves as "black dyke rock," and they take that firebrand energy into their music. Comprised of Bay Area legends Vicki Randle, Shelley Doty, Kofy Brown and Katie Cash, Skip the Needle embody the fecund early days of funk, punk, and reggae, when the music was a glorious amalgamation of music designed to sway hips and souls. Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up is a too-short EP of joyful defiance.
"Until We Overcome" is a relentlessly groovy anthem that celebrates the determination needed to see this whole thing through – and the joy that will keep us alive. "Call Me, by contrast," is gently supportive, a spotlight on the interpersonal supports we all need as lovers and fighters.
The title track, "Wake Up," is the anthem we need right now; as strident as the lyrics are, the groove is gently rolling, inexorable in its message and sense of truth. But to paraphrase Emma Goldman, the revolution must include dancing and "Lady DJ" is a heady mix of desire and freeing oneself of inhibitions.
Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up invites us to revel in what makes us human – the struggle for dignity, yes, but the necessity of finding joy and respite in connection.
