The early 90s were an interesting time for rock music. History shows us that Grunge became the dominant music genre for the rest of the decade, but there was another path that could have been taken and Baby Animals were one example of this.
There was definitely a reaction against the hair metal bands of the late 80s - they were too slick, too corporate. Baby Animals were almost pub rock, but a bit heavier. They’re grounded in blues-based rock and they could almost be called hard rock, but they would never be mistaken for a metal band. Perhaps having a female lead singer gave them a point of difference. Or maybe it just gave them a different energy. It’s no exaggeration to say that Suze DeMarchi was the driving force behind the band. She was definitely in charge. She wrote all the songs, played guitar and sang. She took no prisoners.
Thinking about it some more you realise that this isn’t a million miles away from grunge in terms of attitude. They toned down the excesses of the 80s and turned up the guitars. I guess at the end of the day the most important thing is the songs on this album are all great. One Word, Painless, Rush You and Early Warning are the stand outs and although they never reached these heights again, they left behind a true Aussie rock classic.
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