Warped Weekend: Who's the 'Sinner?'

By: Alicia Grega-Pikul, ec/dc staff writer 08/03/2006

Joan Jett is still pure punk

Force-fed a steady diet of plastic Disney-grown pop tarts and ridiculously orchestrated reality television over artificially flavored, color-enhanced, genetically modified meals, it's no wonder Generation Y is said to be the most cynical generation in history.

The most DIY of the Y'ers are likely to be found roaming Montage Mountain on Friday, attempting to sort the corporate appropriation of their chosen counterculture from the genuine article.

Fortunately, they have Joan Jett to lead the way.

Twenty-five years after debuting with The Blackhearts on the brand-new MTV and proving she was not just some piece of runaway rock 'n' roll jailbait, the Pennsylvania-born-and-bred rocker is proving herself all over again. Not that her "What Would Joan Jett Do?" T-shirt-wearing fans had any doubts.

Any concerns ec/dc may have had that Jett wasn't the real punk deal were quickly assuaged by one 13-minute phone call. Determined not to miss a single date on the Warped Tour (take note Ozzy), Jett nonetheless risked a quick trip back to New York City between shows in Denver and St. Louis in order to see a sports-injury specialist. While answering questions from the airport about her new album Sinner, she shared her frustration that three decades after her debut in The Runaways, society still can't seem to support girls who want to rock.

"Women play cellos and violins in symphony orchestras playing Beethoven and Bach, but you're telling me they can't play rock 'n' roll?" Jett growled. "No, what you're saying is they're not allowed to socially. It's a social thing.

"Everyone's under this illusion that we're equal and girls can do what they want, but that's bullshit. Just try and do something that's nontraditional. Go ask Danica Patrick how easy it is. She's the girl that races, the girl that wants to be in the Indy 500, and I'm reading all this shit that the men are giving her. They feel threatened because they don't want to get beat by a girl. I don't know what that it about the testosterone thing, the competition thing. You can't just graciously accept that somebody is better than you?"

Among the young acts that have impressed Jett on the Warped Tour is a funky electro-rock duo called ShiraGirl. Though technically not booked to play last year, ShiraGirl followed the Warped Tour and played parking lots in protest at the lack of girl bands on the bill.

"It was pretty cool and this year, (tour organizer) Kevin (Lyman) invited them to actually be part of the Warped Tour," Jett said. "So they still bring their stage around but I'd say there are six to eight (other) bands a night (that play there) and they're all female-themed - either all-girl bands or bands with girls in them. And I've been talking to a lot of the girls about playing music and just choosing this life and whether it's worth it or not.

"My parents always told me from the time I was young that I could be anything I wanted in life and I took that to heart," she continued. "I really believed it, so they really couldn't stand in my way beyond making sure I was safe with playing rock 'n' roll. You know what I'm saying? Because they're the ones that said, 'Go ahead.'"

Never content to be anyone's tool, Jett started her own independent record label - Blackheart Records - with producer Kenny Laguna 25 years ago when the industry was too scared to touch her. Now, indie is in and it's commonplace for bands to reject the idea of trading artistic license for major label-representation.

While much has been made of Sinner's political call to action, Jett verified that the album, written largely in collaboration with Kathleen Hanna (Le Tigre, Bikini Kill), isn't telling people what to think so much as it is pleading with them to think, in general.

"I'm wondering if anybody sees the things that I see or if I'm just crazy," she said.

The album's title is ambiguous. Who's the sinner? And furthermore, are we sure we know what the sin is?

"Morality is very subjective. When is it OK to kill? ... People seem to justify killing in certain (situations), like there's good killing and bad killing," Jett said. "It's totally subjective yet we fall into these conditionings like it is absolute. And it's not. Humanity makes these rules and regulations and laws that we live by and ... most people always think the rules apply to everyone else but them. It's all semantics."

The album's opening track "Riddles" addresses the confusion of political doublespeak. Yet, the song is powered with an angst even the artist's newest fans likely find familiar.

"Big Brother is watchin' you / They're takin' all your rights away/ Don't claim that you represent me 'cause / I don't believe a word that ya say," one verse protests.

While Jett suspects her Warped Tour audience appreciates the message behind the music, the kids she's met have been more excited to talk about autographed photographs or about how excited they are to meet her.

"I can't really tell you, honestly, how much they are getting what I'm saying or not, but I can say that a lot of the bands out here have somewhat of a political slant and the kids have been very into it. And I do see kids singing along and singing the words to the songs. So they are buying it and they are listening to it."