by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“They suck and they know it,” says Allison Wolfe, about her employers, the Washington Post. Wolfe is one third of Partyline, an estrogen-fuelled punk trio in the tradition of her riot grrrl band, Bratmobile. But when she’s not playing anthems like “Girls With Glasses,” or Americanizing English translations of the Japanese girl-band manga Nana, she’s a secretary at a daily newspaper that has been “resting on its Watergate laurels.”

“We did this one big thing way back when,” she says, “but everyone just kinda threw their brains out the window after 9/11.”

What better time to unleash Zombie Terrorist FYI, Partyline’s debut album—of course, it’s only out on October 24, but Montreal gets an advance taste at the band’s show this weekend. The title refers to last year’s arrest of an 18-year-old Kentucky kid following his grandparents’ discovery of his short-story proposal about undead terrorists taking over his high school.

“The state of this fucked-up nation,” exclaims Wolfe. “Like, if you showed the video for ‘Thriller’ now, they’d throw Michael Jackson in Guantanamo. Come on! It’s zombies!”

Partyline’s personal, everyday approach to politics is part of the band’s effort to keep thing simple, honest and funny. “Sometimes, we see parts of ourselves in the things that we complain about. How are we participating in this evil society? So I try to poke fun, or imply our own culpability.”

Wolfe advocates grassroots community spirit as an antidote to complacency, whether political or musical. She’s nostalgic for the “utopia” of Olympia, Washington in the early ’90s, but Olympia was also the site of the first Ladyfest, an internationally embraced festival model that gives Wolfe hope for the new generation of grrrls.

“I feel [that Ladyfest] has sorta breathed new life into that idea of punk-rock feminist community, and it can be specific to each region or town. It brings a lot of girls together, using their skills and talents and creating something to be proud of that isn’t just about the bottom line, ’cause usually there’s no money in it! But great communities and friendships are forged.”

With Kickers, Tennessee Twin and DJ Lynne T at Zoobizarre on Saturday, July 22, 9 p.m., $8

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