After pioneering the Riot Grrl movement with Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna sought to reach a new audience with her music. Still keeping her political message in mind, Hanna formed the electronic-punk band, Le Tigre. Le Tigre kept the same progressive message of Bikini Kill but with an electronic twist to it. In 1999, Le Tigre released their self-titled album to major success.
Off the album was one of their most popular songs, “Phanta.” The song tells a story about a scientist researching a mysterious monster before realizing that her research is false and the monster was in reality a helpless creature. I believe that the song is actually an allegory for the spread of misinformation and the demonizing of minority groups.
The song starts with a short sample of an account of the real life Icarus Asteroid incident. The incident took place on June 14, 1968 and consisted of a group of hippies seeking shelter from a rumored doomsday event that was supposed to take place on the day the Icarus Asteroid passed Earth.
I think that Le Tigre uses this sample to paint a picture of how prominent fear and misinformation was in society. It also pairs nicely with the rest of the song, building a sense of uneasiness as it plays.
After the sample, the listeners are introduced to our narrator. She has been stationed at a research facility and is supposed to monitor the area. Throughout the song the narrator speaks about how “Control,” the apparent higher ups for the narrator, are the ones giving her all of her information and who stationed her there.
As the song progresses, the listener learns that the narrator is supposed to be monitoring a supposed monster lurking in the area. Soon after learning about the purpose of the research the narrator learns that she has been lied to by “Control.”
The supposed monster is actually a weak, feeble creature who poses no harm. The narrator even says that, “My data says, ‘Large’ But what I see is small, Text reads, ‘Big Danger,’ This just looks tired.”
Soon after coming to this realization the narrator tries her best to contact her fellow researchers, but is soon cut short due to an apparent technological malfunction. The song ends with the narrator’s peers screaming at her to not take her eyes off of the monitor while the narrator descends into screams followed by an explosion, ending the song.
After looking at a quick breakdown of the song I think that it is pretty obvious that this song is more than a science fiction tale about scientists and monsters. I think that “Phanta” actually tells a story about falling for misinformation and wrongly targeting groups of people. To me, the presence of a “monster” who supposedly is super dangerous is actually a harmless creature is very similar to how lots of minority groups are treated in society.
The presence of an ominous “Control” who supposedly knows everything is also similar to how many governments want their civilians to view them.
The ending with the narrator falling victim to a supposed mental breakdown and technological malfunction can also be seen as one getting silenced by the government.
