NOISE

Three Questions with Joan Jett

You're sometimes referred to as the Godmother of Punk. Did the younger acts on this year's Warped Tour treat you with a sort of motherly respect?

Everybody was great to us. They were really respectful in a way, I guess you could say, but it didn't come off that way. That's not how I interpreted it. It was more like a great camaraderie between the bands. A lot of people were interested in certain aspects of my history, whether it was with The Runaways or me working with other bands like The Germs or Bikini Kill. We had a great rapport with the other bands, and the audiences treated us great, and hopefully we created some new fans. Certainly a lot of kids were unfamiliar with us, so it was pretty cool to turn 'em on to stuff.


Sinner is your first U.S.-released album of new material in 12 years. Why such a long gap?

Believe me, it felt right for a long time to get something out. We just weren't able to do it. We were on Warner Bros., and they kept changing administrations. Every time a new guy would come in, he'd want to be involved, so we wound up making a bunch of different records, which was frustrating. I got to a point where I wanted to put my head down and go out on the road for a while. But we had upwards of 30 or 40 songs recorded, and a couple years ago we took a listen to everything to see what still felt valid. I kept seven of the songs for this record, and I kept writing and came up with the rest. We've gotten mostly great reviews, and the fans seem to like it a lot. And it feels good to me to have something new out, like we've got a reason to be on the road.


Pat Benatar told me she hates having to perform "Hit With Me Your Best Shot," but Cyndi Lauper still enjoys doing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Where do you come down with "I Love Rock 'N Roll"?

I still love to do it, but I had to make peace with that whole thing years ago. You get to a point where people think of you as that song. Initially I was a little frustrated with it. But then the bigness of the song set in when I saw it listed at No. 28 of all time on Billboard. And you say, "Am I gonna resent this? The fact that I was involved with one of the biggest records of all time? I'm blessed to have been part of this." So now I embrace it, and I get off on it, and I don't resent it one bit.



Spencer Patterson









Coming to Town













WITH THE DAMNWELLS
Where: The Joint.
When: November 12, 8 p.m.
Price: $22.
Info: 693-5066.




The Fray


How to Save a Life (1 1/2 stars) Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy raced to suture tracks from this Denver quartet into their soundtracks, so you know the wimp-o-meter is running way into the red. Recommended only if you're yearning for the heady "adult alternative" days of Counting Crows and Hootie.



Spencer Patterson












Opening for The Bouncing Souls, with Street Dogs, Whole Wheat Bread
Where: House of Blues.
When: November 9, 7 p.m.
Price: $12.50.
Info: 632-7600.




Left Alone


Dead American Radio (1 star) California punk has hit a new low with Rancid wannabes Left Alone. While boring riffs and unimaginative lyrics aren't new to punk, Left Alone's half-hearted, obnoxious social statements and poor attempts to idolize Rancid remind us that



Aaron Thompson


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