10 Grunge Albums That Deserve More Love
2. 7 Year Bitch - ¡Viva Zapata!
What do you get when you create a compromise between Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Hole and Heart? Although there is no definitive answer, it is a certainty that the 7 Year Bitch fulfils the expectations you'd have of this combination, not just in style either, as their second album is a solid effort that has become Grunge's best kept secret.
Since bands like The Melvins, Nirvana and Soundgarden perfected the sound of what would later become a global cultural phenomenon, there wasn't much of a focus on the female musicians that were always circulating the scene, if not breaking new ground within it. Hell, even Courtney Love probably would have been subjugated despite her talent if not for her relationship with Nirvana's frontman.
Which is a crying shame really, because this offering from a niche band in a long-dead genre has never quite got the attention they deserved for this LP. As the awkwardly named ¡Viva Zapata! failed to take off at its time of inception and didn't leave so much as a dent in the genre, never mind the genre. The all female oriented group wrote and produced should-be hits like Cats Meow, M.I.A. - which is nonetheless a politically fuelled protest song in relation to the album's title - and the chaotic, unapologetic It's Too Late.
None of which were released as singles, as the album, for whatever reason, didn't produce a single single.