The Julie Ruin

Hit Reset

Hit Reset is so contemporary, so sharply observational, that the immediacy of it actually pained me the first time I tried to listen to it.

The Julie Ruin’s second album, Hit Reset, is bandleader and punk icon Kathleen Hanna's most commanding release since her manifesto-writing days.

While "Mr So and So" shows the gig perv no mercy, elsewhere Hanna’s bonehead-nailing, predudice-lancing manifesto reverberates, as ever, with humanity and truth.

If Hit Reset is the most open Hanna’s ever been about herself, it’s not because she let the rest of the world off the hook.

A record that’s as fun as it is furious, and as confrontational as it is cool. Musically it comes over like a lo-fi take on the 1960s girl group sound, as trashy as a John Waters movie, like The Cramps smothered in candyfloss. But the real meat is in Hanna’s lyrics, which are more personal than ever before.

The Julie Ruin have hit their mark squarely with this oddly hooky, and totally unique, release.

The biggest talking point on Hit Reset ... is that it finds Hanna on the lyrical form of her life - and that’s saying something.

Opting for lively melodies and animated guitar riffs, many of the songs on Hit Reset are characterized by a sense of childlike enthusiasm.

Hit Reset is commendable not because Hanna is a pioneer in the punk world, but because, after all she’s been through, she still has the vigor and passion to be a worthwhile participant.

It's often hard for living legends to make new material that's more than an echo of their most groundbreaking work, but those who hear Hit Reset without knowing Hanna's catalog should find it as charming as any super fan would.