Not every cut's amazing, but there are more than a few good ones: "Crying Shame" features slow, menacing verses that explode into a great, seething chorus. One can guess at the meaning of the lyrics "They all want to see the ugly side of fame; they all like the kind they cannot tame." "The Midst" features a heavy, neo-bluesy wall of sound and some particularly emotional vocals; "24,900 Miles Per Hour" is a cool-rockin', defiant manifesto; and the sludgy "Miss Understood" sports both a gargantuan riff and rhythmically spat-out lyrics. The band has lost a member (Stefanie Sargent) and a lot of friends to tragedy in the past few years. It sounds like they've poured their despair and rage into their music. Cathartic for them, and not bad for us either.

— Metal Edge Magazine

Ever since Black Sabbath had its grunge-inspired renaissance, it seems a million sludge-slinging bands have lurched into existence. Among them, 7 Year Bitch stands out for realizing that sludge is at its best when applied in a thick and gritty layer to solid song structures and compelling grooves. The band's 1992 debut, Sick 'Em, is unusually scrappy and vibrant because of Roisin Dunne's (Note: Stefanie Sargent played guitar on this album, not Roisin) coarse guitar, Selene Vigil's formidable snarling about war and rape, and the sinewy rhythms unleashed by drummer Valerie Agnew and bassist Elizabeth Davis.

Shortly after completing that album, guitarist Stefanie Sargent died of a heroin overdose, and in the summer of 1993, friend and colleague Mia Zapata of the Gits was raped and murdered. The resulting emotional turmoil seemed to propel the band to new heights. The acute album ¡Viva Zapata! crackled with Vigil's biting commentaries about Zapata's death ("M.I.A."), the ravages of heroin ("Hip Like Junk"), and the power issues and social ills surrounding them, while the music simmered with a more complex dynamic.

On Gato Negro, 7 Year Bitch is leaner, meaner, and more intrepid than ever, offering different, if not exactly new, perspectives on the same anxiety. "The Midst" [music: 258Kbytes .aiff] is an edgy, acrid, bluesy number that seesaws between a ranting chorus and more sedate verses. Vigil's mournful, walking/talking vocals follow the tortuous grind of "Deep in the Heart" [music: 322Kbytes .aiff] into the dark core of her thoughts. As brash as the words to "Sore Subject" are — "Alcohol is a truth serum.... / And the truth is everything I do irritates you" — the song has a rich brooding mood reminiscent of Joy Division. The balance of the album growls and grooves - crunches and struts - with a gritty finesse that at times evokes a slew of mondo-rockers from Motörhead to AC/DC. ¡Viva la Bitch!

— HotWired Magazine

Recently seen in "Mad Love", with Drew Barrymore rockin' out to its music, and appearing in practically every riot girl article, 7 Year Bitch has gained its fair share of notoriety for being a relentlessly outspoken group of women. I imagine they have no problem kicking any guys' ass, but a first-year guitar student could shovel out more originality than that heard on their new album, Gato Negro (Atlantic).

Although 7 Year Bitch's intentions are admirable, lending its name to innumerable pro-women causes, and its sincerity is undoubtable, its music lacks any form of possible creativity. The band has survived a tough start in Seattle, after which came the death of its original guitarist, Stefanie Sargent, and friends, Kristen Pfaff (Hole) and Mia Zapata (The Gits), whom the band named its last album after. Gato Negro is 7 Year Bitch's third attempt to fill an album with its undeniable anger; however, what it actually presents is cliched "girl rock" filled with obvious lyrics, a lot more L7 than Hole. The members might be pissed, but they're not very creative.

Their anger seems to have driven them to discard any sense of melody threatening to surface. The band's sound, described as "chugging stop-start rhythms with fat, funky bass lines," could also be the description for Primus, Alice in Chains, or any other equally wretched band. The only difference is this bad band includes women.

7 Year Bitch, like many other all-female bands, has gotten stuck in the trap of thinking that it has to play metal and scream unwelcomely in order to not appear "girly." However, most people listen to music out of a desire to relate, not to be distanced or put off by lyrics so obvious they sound like a story that's been told one too many times.

Hole actually succeeded in producing a number of singles and a ground-breaking debut album, before slightly wimping out. On "Pretty On the Inside," Courtney Love portrayed honest feelings of misguided love, anger, fear and depression and she did it without making her band sound like a female-fronted Melvins clone.

Alternative-heavy metal is bad when it's being played by Korn and it's bad when it's being played by four cute girls. I might root a little harder for their gutsier effort, but the music, by itself, is simply tired and rehashed. And although I'm strangely comforted by the existence of 7 Year Bitch and other such bands, you wouldn't ever catch me listening to them.

— Fen Hsiao/Arizona Daily Wildcat (March 22, 1996)

"Gato Negro" was released a week ago, and it has quickly become one of my favorite albums. I don't think that I've ever anticipated an album release as much as I did this one, especially after the last two shows I went to, and I listen to it repeatedly.

I wasn't too sure what to make of it at first, but the more I listen to it, the better it sounds, especially when it's cranked up LOUD. As a Nine Inch Nails fan, I am impressed by Selene's use of vocal distortion and effects on many of the album's tracks, but in a couple of instances (notably "Rest My Head" and "Jack"), I wish it would be a little less so that I can understand what she is saying better.

"24,900 Miles Per Hour" is probably the best track on the album because it starts out hard, and stays that way for the entire song. The lyrics are interesting and intelligent, and I like the sound of Selene's voice better on this track than on any of the others.

"Crying Shame" is also an awesome track. Liz's bassline is an infectious groove that carries the song from the beginning, and Roisin does an excellent job of laying her guitar work over it. I really like some of the effects she creates, such as when she slides the pick across the E-string (following "These kind of feelings/they cannot be contained"), and when she turns the effects pedal off and on in time with Valerie near the end of the song.

My other favorite tracks on the album are "Miss Understood", "Whoopie Cat", and "Rest My Head".

"Deep In the Heart" is notable for it's kind of eerie, distant sound as the vocal effects give Selene a slight, haunting echo. Another track, "The Midst", also includes vocal effects (are there any songs that don't?) that make the last minute or so reminiscent of material from "Sick 'Em".

The album doesn't really have any weak points, but I would have changed the track order to make "Rest My Head" and "Sore Subject" switch the 9 and 10 slots. I think the strongest part of the album's song order is the 6, 7, and 8 positions. "Sore Subject" (track 9) is a bit slower, and changes the pace of the album, whereas "Rest My Head" is pretty hard, and picks the pace back up before the final two songs. I would have had "Rest My Head" follow "Miss Understood", and then let "Sore Subject" slow it down before moving on to "2nd Hand", which has a different feel to it than the earlier tracks on the album.

Overall, I would say that this is an excellent album, and I thoroughly enjoy it in its entirety. The sound is not as clean as "¡Viva Zapata!", but I think the band is continuing to improve as it evolves. I can't wait to go see them live again.

— Submitted by Jeff Nelson

I find Gato Negro very impressive but i do agree that it is not as clean as Viva Zapata. Selene had a more distinct sound in Viva Zapata which I find better but I still very much enjoy Gato Negro and hope they continue their production of hard and pissed off music because sometimes it makes me feel better. Rock on bitches!!!

— Submitted by Donald Riel

I think that 7 Year Bitch did a great job on their newest album Gato Negro. I would have to say that this album really kicks! I do wish that the songs were longer but I think that the Bitches did a great job on the lyrics. Like: "This is the midst of my spin...Accidents happen in slow motion..Don't wanna stop, don't wanna feel the pain...He would have killed me and my friends...'cuz that's how he deals, that's how he deals with pain...Oh god...Oh god...Oh god...I need some chemicals...I'm too emotional" (The Midst) So if you like some good music and lyrics that will stick in your mind then go out and get this album. Enjoy!

— Submitted by Cecelia