BLENDER 2.5: FOCUS: The Anti-Alanis

Think Tracy Bonham is just another manufactured she-rocker? Sorry, you’re wrong.

Text: Ray Rogers, Photos: Zoe Chan

If you’ve been anywhere near MTV lately, you’ve probably heard Tracy Bonham roar. “I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I'm losing my mind,” she strains politely in her buzz clip, “Mother, Mother,” just before ripping her throat out, hollering, “Everything's Fine!” But if you really want to hear this 29-year-old Boston-based singer lose it, just tell her how much you love this fascinating new trend in music, The Angry Young Woman.

As media pundits trip over themselves to tag her as the Next Big Angry Thing, Bonham's singular talent for turning internal turmoil into spiky pop speaks for itself. And it doesn’t always shout. Bonham's assured debut, The Burdens of Being Upright, is as multifaceted and solid as the load of bricks her shoulders bare on the record's front cover.

Now that she's released her first full-length album to wide acclaim, the old burdens are seemingly easing up. But the burdens of being a rocker who happens to be a woman have become increasingly weighty, as she continues to be pigeonholed as a jumble of screaming estrogen—lumped in with Alanis, Liz, even kooky Courtney. Is she her own woman? You bet. Here’s why.


Why she's not Alanis Morrisette 
In short: Tracy’s easier to believe.
Frankly, we like Alanis, but she does have that whiff of “product.” While Bonham began her pop career by singing jingles for Toyota dealerships in the Boston area—not unlike the commercial bubble-gum that defined Morrisette’s early career—Bonham only did it to make a living while fine-tuning her own music. Far from any marketing creation, she has evolved gradually and never required extreme “repackaging.”  No one pens the venom in Bonham's songs for her. She also knows the proper usage of the word ironic. 

Why she’s not Liz Phair
In short: Tracy’s a little less ... wounded. 
Bonham is more of the Led Zeppelin school of heavy dynamics to Phair's more fragile quiet-riot songs. But Bonham doesn’t mind this particular comparison.  Like Phair, her songs penetrate issues of body image, emotional power plays and doomed romance, but they emanate from a decidedly more secure place. In contrast to Phair's classic “F*ck and Run” in which she's left stranded by a series of unfaithful f*ckers, Bonham remains on top, singing lines like “Ate a man today, ate a man and then just walked away.”

Why she's not PJ Harvey
In short: Well, there’s that violin of hers.
Bonham plays a mean cover of Harvey's “50 Foot Queenie” in concert, but with a few key differences. Tracy’s not given to garish makeup or vampy get-ups. And instead of using her electric guitar, she tears through the song on the violin. A classically trained violinist who was headed straight for the conservatory before she came under the influence of rock and roll, Bonham spent the early years of her life practicing violin religiously several hours a day, and went so far as attending two years of college, concentrating on the instrument. 

Why she's not Patti Rothberg
In short: Just go see Tracy perform, okay?
A few years older than the one-time New York City subway busker, Bonham's far more assured in her writing and tackles much more complex issues. Where Rothberg falters through her live sets, Bonham's concerts are one of her most vital selling points. On stage she attacks her guitar with galelike force, wrenching every hidden bit of drama from her songs. 

Why she's not Courtney Love
In short: Tracy doesn’t need to be the girl with the most cake. 
Bonham remains focused on her music, and, as such, has yet to make a public spectacle of herself. She seems indifferent to the allures of the rock ‘n’ roll “lifestyle,” unlikely to simulate lesbianism. If she ever reaches the point of celebrityhood, it will be based purely on her music and performance. However, she does admit to an exhibitionist side emerging from her upright being. Witness, for instance, her new rubberized green Medusa wig.

Why Tracy Bonham’s glad she’s herself
In short:  She may be battling the angry stereotype, but, hey, it’s better than being compared to ... Mariah Carey.
Still hungry, but for success, and occasionally still on the brink of losing her mind—mostly due to the 24-7 hours of the job—Bonham's in it for the long haul. At this point in her career, everything still may not be fine, but the fine line between anger and joy is one that Bonham is going to keep on walking (whatever the media says). And that sounds mighty fine to us. 

ENDS