| ARTICLES & REVIEWS Rolling Stone article on "Sitting on Snaps" by Evelyn McDonnell, 1995 and REVIEWS of "The Family Swan" | FAVOURITE SHOWS | |

Through 8 albums over 10 years, Mecca Normal have presented a consistent, evolving, and luminous challenge to the reigning social order."
-- Rolling Stone

"When the mix is between brainy lyrics and a meaty beat, between mind and body, pleasure and awareness, that’s when Mecca Normal revs up. Like Odysseus, they have a clarity of vision that’s rare."
-- Village Voice

"Long before Bikini Kill, the Northwest band Mecca Normal was churning out shards of minimal noise (no bass or drums) with a confrontational edge, and would eventually end up influencing many of Olympia’s current female artists."
-- Los Angeles Times

"Oh, what a lovely sparse sound"
-- NME

"Smith is damn near visionary"
-- San Francisco Weekly

"Smith creates an approximation of a childhood game. The imaginary egg is cracked and the yolk is running slowly down your hair."
-- Spin magazine

"David Lester and Jean Smith generate huge power with limited means." -- Select Magazine (England)

"Mecca Normal has inspired a larger movement of feminists in their teens and early 20’s who call themselves Riot Grrrls."
-- New York Times

"Female punk rock fans become united by the feminist messages shouted by bands such as Mecca Normal."
-- USA Today

"I can’t think of anyone else who writes more powerful songs about what it’s like to be a woman in a world of violence against women."
-- Los Angeles Weekly

Smith is angry with an evil world."
-- Der Spiegel (Germany)

"A two-person guerrilla campaign against apathy."
-- Melody Maker (England)

"More unsettling than four Ministry fans with a rack of samplers could ever be."
-- Kerrang (England)

"...stark and breathtaking." -- Pulse (Tower Records)

"Forget Rancid, Offspring and Green Day. Forget the Sex Pistols. The most important punk band of the 90’s is Mecca Normal." -- Sacramento News & Review

"Who Shot Elvis? simmers with captivating parables that knowingly portray regular folks and their deepest passions."
-- Raygun Magazine

Links to reviews are being compiled off-site, in Blogsville.

"Neither Smith nor Lester has gone soft, yet the new "Who Shot Elvis?" is quieter and more nuanced."
-- Washington Post

"Without a doubt Who Shot Elvis? is my choice for best record of 1997."
-- Lois Maffeo, The Stranger

||" Afternoon Descends ||To Night" graphics by ||David Lester

||