I have The Avalanches to thank for this. On top of being the creators of Since I Left You, an album so good it defies description, a couple members of the Australian group are fine DJs in their own right. And, thanks to my good pal Soulseek, I’ve downloaded a ton of their superb DJ sets from around 2001, eclectically high-power mixes that bounce from the Band to the Four Freshmen to the Stooges to the Wu-Tang Clan without missing a beat. And one of the songs they often drop into their sets is this absolute gem from the super-cool electro-pop band Le Tigre.

I have no real knowledge of Bikini Kill or the whole Riot Grrl movement, so I’m pretty much taking Kathleen Hanna’s influence on faith here. But one can only imagine how strange it must’ve been for somebody expecting wicked hardcore thrash to be hit with this bouncy, catchy new wave throwback. Behind a sunny mélange of an hip-hop drum beat, horns that quickly blast in and out of the mix, a grinding rhythm guitar, the occasional wood block hit, and weirdly childlike backing vocals, Hanna name-checks pioneering female artists and exhorts them to keep on keeping on (“don’t you stop!”), keeping perfectly in line with her previous feminist lyrics but laying them over something you might expect the Go! Team to slap together. Then comes the real cool moment—the entire band starts listing, rapid-fire, great artists (male or female) that have influenced them and have made the world a better place for women all over. The Slits, Aretha Franklin, Vaginal Cream Davis (!), James Baldwin, and Billie Jean King all get their dues. It’s both thrilling to hear and, funny enough, educational (do YOU know who Vaginal Cream Davis is?).

The powerful, danceable beat of this song makes it perfect for dropping in the middle of a club set—almost like Talib Kweli’s “Get By,” the song appeals to people looking to shake their thang and people actually paying attention to the lyrical content (“Get By” features the word “risible,” not often found in hip-hop tracks). Maybe Hanna thought this was the way to go—get people moving and thinking at the same time. Or maybe she just wanted a fun side project to goof around with. Either way, I have her, by way of the Avalanches, to thank for such a great song.

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