grin and bear it:

Huggy bear were an explosive UK band whose music embraced the sounds of noisy punk rock with the voice of a revolutionary manifesto. The songs on "Taking The Rough With The Smooch" are in the vein of a more spazzed-out X-Ray Spex and even some old Sonic Youth sound (as evident on "Sizzlemeet" which sounds like it could have been one of the more racious tracks off of Daydream Nation). The vocals are intense and screamy and each song takes it's turn scrutinizing society's ills with an emphasis on personal (and mostly gender-specific) politics. While most of the songs are spikey, punked-out mini anthems, a few cuts are surprisingly thoughtful in their sound; such as the dreamy "Concrete Life" which romanticizes some fantasy involving violence toward a cop and then goes on to lament that "I'd rather cut off my arms off than see you going out with him." It comes across as being both tender, sleazy, and a little creepy. But with it's creaky guitar and random radio waves lulling along in the background, it's one of the standout tracks on the album. This is a really cool little record and an interesting artifact from the days of the Riot Grrl.

Grrr!