(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

The Muffs from Los Angeles were among the groups that played punk-rock inspired by the melodies of 1960s bubblegum and by 1960s girl-groups.

Muffs (Warner, 1993) sits halfway between the bold garage rock of the Pandoras (Not Like Me) and the impeccable choruses of the Fastbacks (Lucky Guy). In reality, it’s just one girl, Kim Shattuck (formerly of the Pandoras), backed by a male rhythm section (bassist Ronnie Barnett and drummer Roy McDonald) and a rhythm guitarist. The album alternates beautiful reconstructions of the slow sentimental songs of the 1950s, like From Your Girl and Saying Goodbye, with wild rave-ups: the nasty boogie of Big Mouth, the rough-and-tumble rock and roll of Another Day, and the fierce voodoobilly of I Need You.

Having lost the second guitarist and replaced the drummer with Roy McDonald of Redd Kross, Shattuck continues her Odyssey through the museum of girl rockers with Blonder And Blonder (Reprise, 1995). From Wanda Jackson to Leslie Gore, from Joan Jett to Kate Bjelland, Shattuck relives the legend of female rebellion. The sound is less Spector and more Ramones, less proper teenage and more streetwise daredevil—much more rock and less melodic, edgy like the best Sonics.
Perhaps the album does not achieve the uniform excellence of the previous one, but the tracks that succeed are counted among the masterpieces of the genre and are enough to redeem the rest. The single Sad Tomorrow (somewhat reminiscent of the Jam) represents Shattuck’s romantic side, the one that is quickly fading. The power-pop of What You've Done and the childlike nursery rhyme of Won't Come Out To Play effectively close the chapter on innocence.
Meanwhile, the brutal music-hall of Red Eyed Troll, the rattling rock and roll of Laying On A Bed Of Roses, the shrill waltz of Funny Face, and another infernal voodoobilly, Ethyl My Love, hit like the classics. It’s in these tracks that Shattuck lets loose, bares her claws, and drools without restraint. Or she purrs inside her shell as an introspective girl.

Con Happy Birthday To Me (Reprise, 1997) Shattuck matura come cantante e chitarrista e trasforma il suo trio di amatori del revival in un combo professionale. Gli arrangiamenti, per quanto sempre fedeli ai canoni degli anni '60, rigurgitano di tocchi di classe. I ritornelli di Crush Me e My Crazy Afternoon (fra i migliori della sua carriera) tendono cosi` un po' troppo verso il pop adulto, ma le tante Nothing, Sunday Girl, Honeymoon continuano a tener vivo il party.

Kim Shattuck died in 2019 at the age of 56.