First there was Gaye Bykers on Acid, then there was Chicks on Speed. Tomorrow may bring Women on Smack and Dogs on Dope but in the meantime Montreal's very own Lesbians on Ecstasy have just released their second album, We Know You Know.

Lesbians on Ecstasy are an unlikely hit - bands with comedy names are usually well worth avoiding - but these gals are more than just a joke. A relentless touring schedule and a social network that includes various members of the riot grrl royal family (read the sleeve notes to find out who I'm talking about) have turned this band into a credible act.

Name dropped up until now only by the most hipster dykes in town, We Know You Know and an appearance at The Dirty Red Ball 2007 promise to make them accessible to the rest of us.

Lesbians on Ecstasy are a peculiar mixture of fun and seriousness. Whilst they want us to address them by their cheeky alter egos – that's Fruity Frankie, Veronique Mystique, Jackie ‘the Jackhammeri and Bernie Bankrupt – they also look like fashion plates from another world and pay meticulous attention to their styling.

Given their playfulness it might surprise you to know that the band wear their political hearts on their sleeves, with music that tackles feminism, gender, sexuality, self-determination, community and more. Channelling Le Tigre, Peaches, and the afore-mentioned Chicks on Speed, this is hard-edged electronic music that thumps through you on the dancefloor.

Politics, lesbian political music in particular, is at the heart of We Know You Know. The band acknowledges that inspiration comes in many forms and that most of the songs on the album have been inspired by that vast catalogue of lesbian music from the 70s, released on independent record labels. This is no dreary, plodding, hokey folk music, it's a nitro-charged plunder-fest, a musical collage that re-writes lesbian music for the dancefloor.

All the clichés and themes are here, sisterhood, ‘womyn’ and utopianism, but Lesbians on Ecstasy crank up the punk and industrial noise to create a sound that couldn't be more forward-looking.

The best tracks are ‘Sisters (In The Struggle)’, which features a choir in the chorus, tight percussion and samples. ‘Sedition’ opens up with a quote from Burzum’s Varg Vikerness, “Why should I regret seeing the light?” Here vocalist Fruity Frankie bounces back from clean melodic vocals and darker whispered vocals, urging the listener to, “Play me backwards, play me backwards” – a naughty reference to the fundamentalist Christian back-masking in music moral panic of yesteryear.

Sometimes the music is harsh, unlike the sounds it is referencing - this is not an album that soothes and pacifies. If you are remotely susceptible to migraines We Know You Know might be something that you listen to sparingly. Meanwhile, the new single, ‘Party Time (A Womyn's Luv)’, is as good a place to start as any. It's upbeat, bouncy, danceable and full of life. A bit like the band, really.

Read our interview with Lesbians on Ecstasy.

We Know You Know, by Lesbians on Ecstasy
Studio: Alien8
Released: 23 April 2007
ASIN: B000O3C574

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