FEMININE RAGER: CHEAP PERFUME’S ‘DON’T CARE. DIDN’T ASK’ IS A PARTY INVITE TO THE REVOLUTION
Hot on the heels of the 10-year anniversary of their first show, Cheap Perfume’s third album, Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask is a rallying cry for empathy and community in a political climate where it’s needed the most. With abrasive, chanting vocals and infectious guitar riffs, Cheap Perfume’s message is loud and clear – it’s time for a revolution and you’re invited.
Cheap Perfume, most known for their 2017 anti-fascist anthem “It’s Okay to Punch Nazis,” which recently surpassed 10 million streams on Spotify, was formed in 2015 out of Denver, Colorado. The four-piece band consists of Jane No (guitar/vocals), Geoff Brent (bass), David "Hott Dave" Grimm (drums), and Stephanie Byrne (vocals), who CRAVE had the opportunity to chat with prior to the release of Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask.
“We were kind of connecting on how we’re angry about the same things in the world,” Byrne said. “the experience of being a woman, especially a woman in music, and how we wanted to be bitchy about it and here we are today.”
Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask perfectly captures Cheap Perfume’s anger, authenticity and passion for their community as they balance vulnerability and compassion with anti-capitalist protest songs that electrify the listener. With 11 tracks that are just as fun as they are impactful, Cheap Perfume stays true to their DIY punk roots with unapologetic lyricism from No and Byrne that cuts through blaring, sharp guitar riffs and pulsating drums.
“Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask comes from what used to be our age-old thing, ‘Don’t read the comments,’ cause they’re never going to be that good,” Byrne said of the title’s origin. “It’s almost moving past that being like, ‘Don’t care, didn’t ask’ because a lot of people, especially men, want to tell you how to write music or ‘you shouldn’t write punk like this, you should write punk like this’ and ‘punk isn’t about that, punk is about this’ and it’s like, I don’t care and I didn’t ask you.”
Graphic by Rosi Martens (Crave Music Magazine)
The album opens with a direct call-out to Jeff Bezos and other billionaires, commanding the listener’s attention in the track “Probably It’s Capitalism.” The theme of capitalist exploitation is carried throughout the album in the tracks “Anytown, USA,” “Blood on Your Hands,” and “Down to Riot,” as Cheap Perfume calls for class solidarity and “eating the rich.” These songs inspire more than just revolution. With catchy riffs, mosh-inspiring breakdowns, and infectious melodies sung by No, Cheap Perfume invites the listeners to come together to dance, sing and party with them.
“It’s obviously talking about the politics and being able to find the platform to speak for oppressed groups and…explaining to [your community] that they’re OK, that people around them are like-minded and they’re not alone, that this is a structure we can fight together,” Byrne said. “[This album] is very very anti-capitalist so it all kinda goes hand in hand.”
Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask speaks on feminist and gendered issues in tracks like “Start Shit” and “Dead If I Do.” The latter packs a heavy punch at the patriarchy and the gender-based violence that results from it. Byrne shouts, “My body your choice / Bitch, please,” a reference to the abusive online attacks on women following the reelection of Donald Trump and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Cheap Perfume’s sound harkens back to the Riot Grrrl movement of the ‘90’s while staying relevant and topical to the current political climate.
Cheap Perfume’s strength lies not only in their bold political activism, but also in their ability to write effective satire and sprinkle humor within their music. The track “No Men,” a satire of the right-wing’s inaccurate negative associations of feminism, does this effectively as Byrne and No sing mockingly, “It’s okay that Rush Limbaugh thinks we’re all ugly lesbians,” abusing their male bandmates in their DIY music video. Humor is used throughout Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask to lighten up the subject matter and to show the importance of being able to laugh even in the face of adversity.
Cheap Perfume also carves space amidst their angry, political tracks for other types of emotion with songs like “Okay Party” and “Desert” that strike a more personal and relatable note. “Okay Party” details Cheap Perfume’s experience touring together. The looping guitar riff that builds throughout the song is reminiscent of the chaos of being on tour, the cycle of going from one place to the next and repeating the whole thing over. “Desert” tells the story of a break-up, taking a break from screaming to be more soft and vulnerable while staying true to Cheap Perfume’s signature punk sound. Byrne called the track a “teenage girl’s confusion over a boy,” saying in the midst of a cruel world, it’s important to keep these feelings in mind, too.
The album concludes with a cover of “I Get Wet” by Andrew W.K., a song about having fun in spite of hate and negativity. Originally sung by a man, this cover encapsulates what Cheap Perfume is about with two femmes taking the reins, bringing a whole new meaning to “getting wet,” as Byrne explains:
“We were recording it and Chris, our sound engineer [who] co-produced the album with us, he was like… ‘What’s the Cheap Perfume spin on it?’ and Geoff was like, ‘I don’t think you understand that two chicks singing it is going to be the spin.’ The only part on that song where there’s a lady that sings in the original, Geoff actually does the backup vocals for which I thought was such a fun turn.”
The message at the core of Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask can be summed up by a line in the song “Woke Mind Virus,” where Cheap Perfume asks the listener, “What kind of person thinks it’s weak to have compassion?” Cheap Perfume’s approach to activism and revolution is one of empathy and solidarity, using music as a means to build strength within their community. Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask is an impassioned petition for change in an apathetic world. With tears in her eyes, Byrne told CRAVE, “The call to action is showing up for yourself, showing up for your community and just believing in yourself and believing that within all of this, you matter and your existence is so important and we need you here.”
INTERVIEW
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INTERVIEW ★
Crave Music Magazine had the chance to virtually talk with vocalist Stephanie Byrne ahead of the release to discuss Cheap Perfume, their musical inspirations and coping with life through song.
CRAVE: I wanted to first ask you about Cheap Perfume’s origins. You’ve been a band since 2015 so can you tell me a little bit about what motivated you to start making music together?
BYRNE: Yeah, we’re about to hit our ten-year show-aversary. Cheap Perfume was definitely Jane No’s teenage brain child that they had held onto for a long time. We had all kind of lived next to each other and played in bands together and we ended up doing karaoke ten years ago and connected on how we’re angry about the same things in the world.
CRAVE: You guys are most known for your song, “It’s Okay to Punch Nazis” which was first released in 2017. How do you feel about the son’s recent resurgence and growth in popularity?
BYRNE: It’s so funny, we always kinda joke that it’s so cool to have a hit. That’s such a neat thing to have happened to us at all. A little more though, we’re like, “We’d rather there be no Nazis,” so I wish that the relevance of this song would pass… but we’re really grateful that we can be a part of people’s passion and what revs them up in this obviously very awful time.
CRAVE: Don’t Care Didn’t Ask is your third album throughout the last decade. This was Jane No’s “teenage brainchild,” as you said. How has your brainchild and message grown over time?
BYRNE: I really like to say that this album is very sweet and very ragey at the same time. I think that it would be hard to not have inertia in this common day landscape so I think we’ve kind of got angrier and more direct in our messaging.
CRAVE: What were your musical inspirations for your upcoming album and how did they shape the sound?
BYRNE: I think this album is really cool because our writing process is unique as is with Jane and I being the two people who write lyrics together. Oftentimes, we’ll write the lyrics first and then the music will come later. This album was kinda cool and I think we really turned around our whole process. So fun little fact, Jane No actually wrote the bassline to “It’s Okay to Punch Nazis” which I always think is just a really fun little thing. For this one, I think this is a lot more music forward too. By no means is it math rock-y, but I do think it’s a lot more technical than it has been in the past and that is a lot lending into how much of the guitar parts Geoff wrote for this album. I think there’s a lot more full collaboration, instrumentally, lyrically. The way we recorded it this time the boys had to actually understand what the lyrics were because that’s not always their forte. I think that this is just a lot more collaboration and feels like more of a team project.
CRAVE: I wanna pedal back a little bit, what are your musical inspirations specifically?
BYRNE: I think it’s a lot of a mixture. We’re big Kathleen Hanna fans, like Bikini Kill, Le Tigre. We got to open for Bikini Kill a couple summers ago so that was a really incredible and wonderful experience. I know kind of a lot of what I’ve been jamming to or thinking about is just music that feels. You can feel the rawness in it. Mannequin Pussy comes to mind. I don’t know if there's one inspiration specifically because we’re all so different musically but I would definitely say anybody who’s putting out things that are ragey, raw, and truthful.
CRAVE: You mentioned Kathleen Hanna, your sound is very reminiscent of Riot Grrrl music from the 90’s. How do you transfer that movement and their ideas to the political and musical landscape of today?
BYRNE: I think we are so super duper lucky that a huge majority of our audience is younger, queer people. You can listen to an album and that’s one thing, but I think going to shows is such a big beautiful experience and is such an exchange of energy. We get to see these younger queer people that in spaces budding and becoming their own and forming their own opinions and ideologies and going out into the world and being themselves…We like to think of our shows that people can come and be their full selves.
CRAVE: You told me this album is angrier than the previous ones. Can you tell me more about your writing process and channeling that anger into music?
BYRNE: I think it’s such a cool that that we get to do, Jane and I, the way that we get to bounce off each other because I know that I’m a lot more quick and quippy and Jane is a very well-thought-out person…so it’s really cool that we get to bring those two forces together and see that balance takes form. I think that this is probably one of the albums that we’ve played off each other very well. One particular song, “Dead If I Do,” that one is about personally being a survivor of sexual assault… so that song is really about violence against women and oppressed peoples really enacted by men. I think that there are a lot of different subjects within this that affect everybody that we feel really particularly passionate [about] because it’s things that affect us, our community, and the people around us.
CRAVE: Getting more into specific songs on the album, what song are you most excited for people to hear?
BYRNE: I think it’s a little bit of everything but I know for me personally, “Dead If I Do” is kind of my big one…so I’m really excited for that. I think “Desert” is such a cute lovesick song, that one is super fun. I’m excited for our cover. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the song “I Get Wet” by Andrew WK…I’m really excited for all of it, I think we all are in our own ways because it’s more technical and there’s a lot more fun stuff on it and the politics are still there.
CRAVE: The song “Desert” that you mentioned is a bit more personal than the other songs on the album. How does it fit into the overall message and rest of the album?
BYRNE: I think that there’s so much rage and even just as a human being, personally, I think there’s so much space to be held for the duality and multitudes that we are. “Desert” is a really fun, cute lovesick song. It’s kind of like a teenage girl’s confusion over a boy and I think it’s important to hold space for songs like that even in the midst of a lot of other hard stuff.
CRAVE: Does that get hard live? The yelling and screaming?
BYRNE: I think that I’m still learning that. Jane is a lot more trained and has such a beautiful voice. “Put the Devil to Bed” on our second album is such a fun song for that reason because everyone really gets surprised by Jane when she comes out on that chorus. It’s this long intense battle scream that we didn’t know she had in her until she did that. I’m not the best person to ask because I’m not trained and I’m just a little ball of ADHD energy on stage. I just like to run because I’m scared but also excited and passionate. I think I’ve gotten better over the years in understanding that really it all comes down to breath control.
CRAVE: You guys have been a band for a decade and those experiences are detailed in the song Okay Party. What experiences served as the inspiration for that track?
BYRNE: We did not tour for a really long time. It took us seven years before we went out on the road and that is such a hilarious experience all around, like it’s amazing we didn’t kill each other, it’s amazing that we made it… You’re out in the world and your only friends, your team, is your bandmates and you’re halfway having the best time of your life and it’s so much fun, you’re partying and meeting so many new people and having all these beautiful experiences but also your van is breaking down in the 90 degree heat and you’re stuck in the worst part of Phoenix, AZ for three days and you’re just trying to work together in these scenarios, these high pressure weird scenarios, even though you’re going to the middle of nowhere where it might not even be safe to be yourself. It's such a unique thing to be in a band, it's almost like being in a relationship with 4 other people. That's what that song’s about, all the ridiculousness of this experience and really how when you're on the road you don't want to be on the road but you do. And what a weird life it is to be a musician
CRAVE: One thing I really like about the album lyrically is how a lot of your songs have a sense of humor. It’s very quippy, there’s a lot of irony to it, specifically like in “No Men.” How do you balance dealing with serious subject matter while still having fun and maintaining that sense of humor in your music?
BYRNE: Over the years we’ve talked a lot about how satire can make things more palatable. I think that can work in a couple different directions so in the political realm it can work really well. It’s just easier to talk about things when it’s funny, or it’s just like our own coping skills perhaps.
CRAVE: What challenges have you faced in response to being very outspoken about your activism, if any?
BYRNE: From a safety perspective, it can be difficult in the way that we’ve had a couple people show up to shows that were threatening. We’ve not had anything happen, thankfully, and we’re very grateful for our community for that reason. We do protect each other so well. So it affects [us] in a lot of ways but I think the good outweighs the bad.
CRAVE: What is your call to action for people who listened to “Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask.” and are inspired to fight back against oppression and capitalism?
BYRNE: Our call to action is taking care of ourselves first and foremost. I know for me personally music is what saved me so many times. Taking care of yourself first and foremost is the best way we can take care of each other. Without caring for ourselves first, we can’t care for our community– and that’s the next step, showing up for our community, understanding that everyone has different jobs in the revolution. If going out and protesting is not something you’re able to do, it doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of other ways you can be effecting change in your community, if that’s mutual aid, if that’s making calls to local people, if that’s finding ways you can volunteer. Make sure we don’t get complicit or don’t get too comfortable. We see every time that we fall into patterns that it’s very easy for things to creep back up, hella authoritarianism that we have right now.
CRAVE: Is there anything else that you want to add that I didn’t ask you?
BYRNE: Girls to the front. Kathleen Hanna blazed the path for so many of us and it’s such an honor that we get to continue doing that but that’s what I want. I want music from all kinds of people that we don’t get to hear from, bands with more than just white dudes in them. It’s exciting and amazing that we can all be a part of this and keep doing this.
Stream Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask and keep up with Cheap Perfume:
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