Girlschool: Hit and Run (1981)

I am not really sure why it is that Girlschool has never really broken through to the mainstream.  It seems to me that an all-female metal band would have made some big waves.  I suppose it is quite likely that the band was viewed as some sort of gimmick, even though Girlschool had the chops to show that they were absolutely for real.  Maybe they formed too early.  Metal unfortunately has a bit of a history of not being the most open-minded and inclusive of genres, though it has come a very long way now.  It certainly did not start that way and Girlschool formed during the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, certainly early on in the genre's history.  So I guess maybe the metal world was not quite ready for Girlschool.  But they were undeniably important in the history of women in metal. 

This is Girlschool's second full-length release, and my first real exposure to the band.  The sound is certainly interesting.  Given that it came out in 1981 it is not shocking that this is not the heaviest of metal bands.  They do sound a great deal like Motörhead, with the same kind of dirty, booze-fueled, rollicking riff style.  They have a bit more of a punk energy though and the vocals are clearly more punk-derived than metal, particularly with the shouted choruses and occasional gang vocals.  The riffs are often rooted in blues, which is not unusual given the time period.  It is very clear that the band was having a damn good time recording the album and this is the kind of thing that would be fun to hear in a dive bar.  It just sort of fits.

Any complaints that I have are kind of nitpicky.  The production is not great, but it does give the band an unrefined feel to the music which does fit well.  Otherwise, there is one point in the song "Yeah Right" where there is a brief sort of skit where the band members are defying rules and talking back to some authority figure or other.  I fucking hate those skits in songs.  Glam bands did it a lot, particularly Van Halen and Slaughter.  It really fucking annoys me.  This one is not as bad, because at least it's short.

Girlschool probably should have been huge.  I guess one of the big problems was that the band was blossoming when the NWOBHM was sort of on its way out and they tried to adapt to the glam sound, which they sort of failed at.  What is impressive though is that the band is still around, becoming the longest active all-female band in rock, not just metal.  That is certainly impressive.