Review: Bite Back by P.I.T.

Some have made the prediction that in the age of Trump, punk rock would be making a comeback. Certainly larger acts like NIN have announced new releases, but smaller and brand new acts like P.I.T. are doing their part to fight injustice; hence the debut EP, Bite Back by P.i.T is a call to arms for those who don't fit with the heteronormative, patriarchal, imperialist culture norms prevelant in America today.

To drive this point home, the EP opens with 'Bite Back' a garage rock anthem that takes a stand against the alt right icon recently brought to power, by reminding us these ideologies are not normal. The track spends much of it's time criticizing our new president, then taking our hand in the chorus, and encouraging the listeners to stand together, shouting "Bitches bite back/ pussies grab back/ attack" The rest of the album follows in suit, a call to arms from the activist, queer, feminist punk duo from LA.

The album continues with "It's All Perfect", sonically closer to what you would expect from an anarcho punk band in the vein of Honey Bane and Bags. This angry, low fi, drum beat of the oppressed is where the EP shines for me. Where more melodic tracks like "Leave Me Alone" and "Spiders" add a welcome variety, I find the angrier rock n' roll, proto-punk style a more cathartic and natural sound. Especially when the subject matter is unapologetic in it's themes of resistance and social justice.

Track 5 "Pull me up" is the most complex on the album. It begins with a typical anarcho punk sound, then veers into something akin to a chorus from a celtic punk band, even adding elements from metal into the mix.  The album closes with "Spiders", a song that takes inspiration from bands like The Slits and The Raincoats.

Alli's vocals very much remind me of early underground UK feminist punk acts, in which women came together for a common cause, who may not have been classically trained vocalists, but fused a passion and channeled a powerful feminine energy into their voices, in a stand against the patriarchy. Just as with the the song structure, Alli shows a refreshing flexibility in her approach, from a ghostly, haunting vocal in "Spiders", to more of a folk vocal in "So Tired", to a classic feminist punk sound in "Pull Me Up".

Bite Back is an album with a strong message, clawing and the soft underbelly of systemic institutional oppression at a time when we need it the most. While not a perfect album, Bite Back offers a variety of sounds that will make fans of garage rock and feminist punk will feel at home, without sounding being monotonous or rehashed.