American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine Norristown PA

American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine

The Donnas

Lookout! Records, 1998

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/09/1998

And now, from Oakland... the anti-Hanson!

Picking up the three-chord rhythm where the Ramones left off,The Donnas, a four-piece female punk group, bang through theirten-song debut American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine in just over 25minutes, well too short to make a serious impression on thelistener. But those 25 minutes are not bad, though some rough edgesremain.

Led by vocalist Donna A., The Donnas lift some lines from theRamones bible (like the importance of the radio on "Gimmie MyRadio"), but there's a major difference between the godfathers ofAmerican punk and their daughters - The Donnas are an admittedlyhorny bunch, and have no problem singing about it. (The Ramoneswere more interested in sniffing glue than... oh, never mind.Things like this will keep us from getting a family rating fromRSAC.)

Donna R.'s guitar work isn't bad, though I would have liked tohave heard a little more in the lead department; she shows that sheknows her chops rather well. Bassist Donna F. is pretty hidden inthe mix, while drummer Donna C. occasionally shows some weakness inher fills on the skins - though this could also be the fault of arather poor production job.