Le Tigre

No woman is an island. But in 1999, it seemed that Kathleen Hanna of the New York-based electropunks Le Tigre could be. Her dance feministas sounded equally idiosyncratic and didactic at the time. Their sole peer was Germany's Chicks on Speed. On Le Tigre's third full-length, however, the trio merely navigates what has become an established repertoire: hiccuped slogans, hopscotch percussion and choppy guitar. A taut, neon-speckled sheen is applied to Hanna's crackly sample clatter; once shambolic and self- produced, she's now assisted by Nick Sansano (Public Enemy, Sonic Youth) and the Cars' Ric Ocasek. The resulting This Islandis full of ProTooled, depth-charged, drum-machine-led dance routines that reinforce Le Tigre's feminist protests, disseminating their message without further developing their original, admittedly catchy sound.