In an era where the media declares almost every female singer an idol for females it is refreshing to find a group of entirly unsuitable, and proud of it, females. Debatably an offshoot of the riot grrl movement and started in 1992 by an ex-groupie of Marilyn Manson, Jack off Jill quickly aquired a fanbase of scary little goth girls.
Hailing from South Florida Jack off Jill can be summarised as a children's puppet show with Exorcist overtones. Jessicka is the obvious focal point as she does her best riot girl impression and Jessicka's barely controlled tantrums, the rest of the band stands in the background reminaing almost entirely unnoticed. Manson produced Jack off Jill's EP cassette 'Children 5 and Up' and shown clearly by the 'clean panties' and 'dirty panties' remixes. In more recent years Manson appears to have ditched Jessicka and company. Rumour has it Jessicka was less than impressed that her only meantion in Manson's autobiography was that she slept with Freddy the wheel.
There is some dispute as to whether Jack off Jill are still together. It was widely reported in Novemeber 2000 that they had split, "differences" between Robin Moulder and Jessicka Fodera being widely cited. However, recently they have been getting a lot of media attention (all things considered) and Jessicka has apparently stated that both Scarling and Jack off Jill co-exist. This could be because Scarling has hardly been the success that she was hoping for.
1997's 'Sexless Demons and Scars' seems to have aquired them the most fans (albeit retrospectively) as proven by the over use of the word 'Lollirot' on a variety of online journals. This was their first full-release album, and also the first time their odd lyrical images, dress sense and cover art had any success as more than indivdual concepts.
Though I like the noises Jack off Jill make, the lyrics manage to beboth non-sensical and pretty disturbing. The first verse of 'Chocolate Chicken' reads, "Chicken and chocolate dancing / Milkman got the blues / They suck him off on dairy cock / And who the hell are you / The chicken knows, yeah / Just how it goes, yeah."
The worst feature of Jack off Jill is that they have the unfortunate habit of thinking that screaming randomly instead of singing enhances their sound. It does not. On some editions of 'Clear Hearts and Grey Flowers' is a hidden track of a cover of The Cure's 'Love song' which is ruined by Jessicka's random wailing. I am pained to say that despite this, it is by no means the worst cover of 'Love Song'. The Tori Amos cover is one of the best and, looking at the progressive devience from Robert Smith's intention, appears to have been what Jack off Jill were covering (JoJ's version having considerably more in common with this than the original). The still more recent Snake River Conspiracy cover is so odd it has to be a cover of Jack off Jill's cover. The Snake River Conspiracy cover of 'Love Song' is like a synthpop version, and appears to utilise a streched sound sample. It contrasts dramatically with every aspect of the original Cure version, and I am not at all sure who thought this was a good idea.
While none of the aforemeantioned females would make a sane role model, being either clinically nuts or of dubious moral standing or a host of other reasons, they are infinately better than those the media would assign you. Rock Sound promotes the arguement that as a "self-proclaimed independent woman, it certainly can't do any harm to have people like Kelly Osbourne pushed forward as potential female role models." These people would sell you Kelly Osbourne as the "next generation Courtney Love" and not see the irony or the insult. If I chose to have a role model if will not be someone who puts herself forward for the role or who the media deem it fit that I should emulate.
Riot Grrl is only dead if you take this lying down.
