by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"It's really heartening to see so many people coming out of the woodwork to become politicized," says Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna, praising the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow and the Foo Fighters for their latter-day activism. "It's kinda ridiculous, but kids look up to entertainers. I did. If Donny Osmond had told me to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge…"

Hanna and her bandmates Johanna Fateman and J.D. Samson no longer take orders from the man, despite signing to Strummer/Universal, home of the Rapture and the Mars Volta. After the recent demise of their longtime label, the queer/feminist-focused indie Mr. Lady, Le Tigre launched their own imprint to re-issue their back catalogue (two LPs, two EPs, distributed by Touch and Go) and found some decent folks at Universal to release their new record This Island. Indie diehards will inevitably be disappointed by the trio's label shift (and their decision to license their underground hit "Deceptacon" to Telus), but Hanna will gladly sacrifice indie cred for the opportunity to project her voice to a larger audience.

"The first time I heard punk rock, it was on television," she says. "I want people to see us, I want kids to see a different kind of female performer. That's really exciting to me, especially in these totally conservative times."

With shrill punk screamers, powerful demo chants and hot dancefloor ditties, Le Tigre's electro-punk sound and anti-establishment messages are intact and tighter than ever. Co-produced by the band and Nicholas Sansano (Sonic Youth, Public Enemy), with one song overseen by the Cars' Ric Ocasek ("Tell Me Now"), the record easily one-ups its somewhat disappointing predecessor Feminist Sweepstakes.

"The last record was more about the process and learning to work together," concedes Hanna, pointing out that Samson had just joined the band when that LP was made, replacing Sadie Bening. With her Bikini Kill background, Hanna was initially the band's head writer, a role she pulled back from on Feminist Sweepstakes. This time, all three songwriters upped the ante, aiming to create catchy agit-pop to shout through megaphones and pump through sound systems. Mission accomplished.

With ESG, Gravy Train!!!!, Cannonball Jane and I.Y.M. at Metropolis on Sun., Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m., $30

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