Still, at the forefront of Bad One, as always, are the lyrics, angry dissections of a male-dominated music industry in which the "gettin' laid/gettin' paid" ethos is as strong as ever. "#1 Must Have" unravels the commodification of feminist ideals in the hands of the biz: "Now who would have believed this riot grrrl's a cynic/ But they took our ideas to their marketing stars/ And now I'm spending my days at girlpower.com/ Trying to buy back a little piece of me," as Tucker sings. More than just ideals have been stolen however; as the song progresses, she rattles, "And will there always be concerts where women are raped/ Watch me make up my mind instead of my face." Throughout the album, what comes across most strongly is the sense that the members of Sleater-Kinney remain imminently aware of the power of words -- both theirs and those of others -- to whoever's listening. At a time when bands and record labels regard vast sections of the music-consuming public -- teenage girls for example -- as easy money (parents and their pocketbooks willing), it's obvious that Sleater-Kinney's time is now.
