You either like Courtney Love or you really, really don’t. Fair or not, she falls into a special category reserved for whatever conjures up emotions only on the two extremes. Three other examples that similarly leave little middle ground? Martha Stewart, Napoleon Dynamite, and Family Guy (me: like, hate, hate).

Well, holy Frances Bean, she’s back from the edge of who knows what, cleaned up and setting her sights on music once again. But even among Courtney Love supporters (a phrase that reads just as weird as it did when I typed it), there’s controversy regarding her decision to resurrect her former band Hole without involving any of the previous players, like co-founder Eric Erlandson, Patty Schemel, or Melissa Auf Der Mar. It’s all very reminiscent of Billy Corgan’s handling of The Smashing Pumpkins (currently accepting applications for a bassist and keyboardist, if you’re interested or know anyone who might have missed the Craiglist ad).

Corgan himself is somewhat surprisingly involved in Love’s latest return to rock, having left his imprint all over Hole’s last studio album, 1998’s quite wonderful Celebrity Skin. The pair famously had a falling out around the time of its release as to whom deserved credit for what, but evidently patched things up enough in recent years to pen some new tunes together. Still, whatever harmony might have existed was short lived, because the cantankerous couple are at odds once again.

Hopefully that soap-opera saga won’t distract from the first single, “Skinny Little Bitch” (not one of the Corgan co-writes), which premiered as a free download for Hole email subscribers earlier this month and made its way over to paid services on Tuesday. It’s not my favorite tune ever (“Violet” and “Playing Your Song” were better at bringing the raw), but lineup grievances aside, it’s still good to hear Love’s unmistakable snarl coming out of speakers again, and for that matter, female-fronted rock of recent heritage.

I don’t know whether simmering rage is all Courtney has cooking for Nobody’s Daughter, out April 27, but “Skinny Little Bitch” is a decent appetizer. Hear here:

Purchase Hole – “Skinny Little Bitch” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.