Pick Of The Month: The Donnas The Donnas Turn Twenty-One Lookout! Records

"...and men all over the world rejoice" should have been the by-line for this CD title. 
It's been a long arduous road for the Donnas who have experienced many peaks and valleys since 
the release of their debut disk, The Donnas. They seemed to have hit the crest of their career a 
couple of years ago about the time that BAM put them on a cover and shortly after, they had a 
cameo appearance in the major motion picture, Jawbreaker. Even at last years Warped Tour, the 
band had a subdued presence, lost in the shadow of Green Day, Papa Roach, et al.  Now comes 
Twenty-One, the bands fourth full-length effort. The bad news is that this disk is not a huge 
departure from last years Get Skintight. The good news is that this is not a bad thing. 
Beginning with the lead-off track, "Are You Going To Move It For Me?" the angst that has built 
up over the years is apparent in the jaded verse "You want to meet me/but you wrote a bad review 
of our show/if you don't like us/what are you doing standing in the front row?" that oozes with 
contempt.  The significant difference in Twenty-One lies in the production quality. The guitars 
retain the Donnas' trademark heaviness, but the crunchy ring has a crisp outline to it. This is 
especially apparent on the would-be hit, "40 Boys In 40 Nights." With the synchronized guitar 
attack of "Midnight Snack," one ponders if the Donna's are catering too much to the headbanging 
element, however Donna A's sassy-teen vocals come to the rescue yet again. The lyrics carry a 
steady malefic theme to them, tied together by the all present "relationship" slant, although 
the press release that accompanies the disk claim that the songs as "funnier" than before. 
Hmmm...must be an inside joke in Palo Alto. Nonetheless, the CD as an entity is a solid package 
and combined with a good support slot on a major tour, 2001 should once again, be the year of 
the Donna. -Larry Trujillo