Amazon.co.uk Review
With their fetish-boutique leatherwear, dominatrix vibe and Riot Grrl/Girl Power pouting and posturing, Ping Pong Bitches are really nothing like the sort of young ladies you're likely to encounter playing table-tennis at the local Youth Club--unless they've come to burn the place down or karate-chop one of the social workers. "Beat Me Up", for instance, takes Donna Summer's "I Feel Love"--one of many stylistic references to
Giorgio Moroder--and swiftly knees it in the groin with it's gratuitously blood-splattered "punk" lyrical violence. "Rock Action", meanwhile, sounds like Kenickie doing Primal Scream with the ghost of ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones gunning along on some filthy riffing guitar. The best cut is the punk-free "Chinese Song"--late 1970's Moroder-produced Sparks, stir-fried with soya sauce. All in all,
Ping Pong Bitches is not a bad record, but punk mixed with disco? Well, let's just say that Joey Ramone was never destined to play Tony Manero in
Saturday Night Fever.
--Kevin Maidment