Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 36-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
Andi Zeisler’s San Francisco Weekly review of the album (of which this is the title track) contains music to my ears: “On top of that, Smith’s funny.” At the time, in the ’90s, it seemed many (male) reviewers couldn’t fathom or articulate that a chronically angry feminist could also be funny, sexy or complex in the same way the men were regarded as being multifaceted. Being labeled a feminist (by one’s self or otherwise) seemed to reduce one to being easily dismissed. If one was a male, one could be a well-respected Renaissance man, but if one was a feminist with a variety of artistic pursuits, it’s more likely she was regarded as a dabbler.
“Who Shot Elvis?” from Who Shot Elvis? (Matador, 1997) (download):
