Having already released a track called "Patriarchy Over and Out", which matched its manifesto to a cracking beat arguably even more striking than the lyric, the only way Janine Rostron could go for an International Women's Day single was up. And up Planningtorock went, at least in title; yet "Misogyny Drop Dead" is a far subtler affair than its 2012 counterpart. It matches that song's brittle percussion, Knife-y synths, and androgynous vocal, but adds a blunt lyric ("Misogyny, drop dead and dump the script… 2013, our time is ahead") and some funk on the verses. Rostron's vocal skirts and thrusts around the beat to almost playful effect, somewhat like Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs in her more reggae-influenced mode. The production makes it seem as though misogyny hasn't got a chance.
"Misogyny Drop Dead" marks a thematic change from 2011's W: Back then, Rostron said she was "never interested in writing literal lyrics" about feminist theory. There's not enough material here to tell whether it's a one-off (well, two one-offs) or the start of more overtly political work, but what's here is compelling enough to make it seem a viable direction. The song leads a 12'' single, with a remix by Pursuit Grooves that makes the original even twitchier, the instrumental interlude "Agender", and "Public Love", an eight-minute call to arms beat that constantly threatens to crumple in on itself, a sample that sounds like a baritone sax played through a loudspeaker, and the rallying cry, "public love is back!" "P-U-B-L-I-C!", she cries halfway through.
Everything's kind of spelled out like that, making literal what was previously assumed in Planningtorock's work. As a result there's little here as suddenly striking as, say, the lyrical knives-in-the-back throughout W's "I am Your Man"-- but perhaps that's the point. It can be liberating to be this unsubtle. In the video for "Misogyny Drop Dead", Rostron's face is hidden-- standard for Planningtorock-- behind quick cuts and dark lighting. But look closely at the grotesque mouth and you'll see a grin, and study Rostron's movements and you'll realize they seem a lot like dancing. "You've got the power to prove," Rostron sings at the end of the track. Celebration's as powerful proof as any.
