Hot topics! Le Tigre spin-off ahoy

JD Samson and Johanna Fateman from Le Tigre are taking advantage of a very, very long break from the band to do something different. Something DJ-led. Something called Men:

"We were kind of burned out after the tour promoting 'This Island,'" Samson tells Billboard.com. "Everyone wanted to do their own thing -- Johanna opened a salon, Kathleen (Hanna) went back to school and I was on tour with Peaches for a year."

After Le Tigre decided to take a break, Samson began DJing in clubs around the world as an income supplement. In the spring of 2007, Le Tigre was invited to DJ at the opening of WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Hanna, who fronts the group, couldn't appear because of school obligations, but Samson and Fateman jumped at the opportunity.

"As time went on, we kept DJing together and talking about writing original material that lent itself more to the club atmosphere," Samson says. "One day I just texted Johanna and said, 'I'm ready, let's make a record.'"

For continuity purposes, and (we'd imagine) to help carry across some fans, they're mashing up some Le Tigre stuff.

See them on tour in the US, and at SXSW; sample them at their MySpace.