Wedged between The Melvins and White Zombie on a tour bill this summer, Babes In Toyland is in a rockin’ hard place.
“It’s going to be amazing to play after The Melvins,” singer-guitarist Kat Bjelland said recently, “because they’re one of my favorite, most favorite bands of all time. They’re so underrated and they’re so heavy.
“I mean, it’s not competitive or anything, just in sheer volume alone, I hope it’s not a down drop for the audience when we come on. We have this small Marshall (speaker) combo and The Melvins have these huge Marshall stacks!”
The Babes – Bjelland, drummer Lori Barbero and bassist Maureen Herman – need not worry. They have in-your-face tracks like “Sweet 69” from their latest Reprise album, “Nemesisters,” to draw from.
Just one piece of advice for the trio: Don’t play your versions of Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” both odd selections off “Nemesisters.”
“Mostly journalists are asking us why we did ‘We Are Family,’ ” Bjelland said. “It’s a s—-y song, what else? People like familiar stuff. It’s a good sing-along song, and people like to dance to it. It has a good message and and we all sing it together, and it’s a happy song.”
Bjelland said the track was intended for a pro-choice compilation of 1990s all-women bands doing songs by ’70s all-female groups, but it didn’t make the cut and ended up on “Nemesisters.”
Cover versions aside, Bjelland said the album is the Babes’ strongest yet.
“It’s a really equal record because everyone has their part in it. It’s a unified band effort.”