Sharing is Caring : A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock

Do yourself a favor. If you are interested in female fronted punk from the '70s and '80s, there isn't a better way to educate yourself than this three part series of compilation downloads via Kangnave! BRILLIANT! It includes a very young Bjork (Tappi Tikarrass), better known groups like the Mo-Dettes, Au Pairs, and Liliput but they also offer deeper cuts from groups all over the world.

It is nearly impossible to collect all these records no less afford them all so this is a must download for those who want a superior digital collection of music by female artists.

Bring on the Dancing Horses with Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation

Do you set your watch to the hypnotic tics of Suicide and wish to call home the spooky aural landscape Fever Ray calls home? If this is the case, I think Swedish group Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation  2015 release Horse Dance may be some required listening for you.

A Rose that Blooms Forever

There isn't one music project by Rose Melberg I haven't wanted to take on a picnic and pledge my undying love to. She is the master melody. Her sweet voice often paired with a fuzzy guitar has been labeled everything from a Riot Grrrl to twee to cuddle-core to sweater-Pop. We can all agree that whatever you want to call it, her myriad of musical identities have been consistently memorable including her newest band called Knife Pleats. If her Discogs page is accurate, she is on over 100 different releases so needless to say there is a TON of releases to explore.

Here are just a handful of them.

Nun More Black

Nun is a female fronted Australian electrobeat /industrial group who write songs with nods to Throbbing Gristle, The Normal, Psychic TV, and synth driven Italian horror soundtracks. They have been producing music since 2012 and their discography includes a full length and single to date. If you think rock is dead, analog is sexy, and that black isn't back but rather has never gone away, then I suggest you waste no time checking this band out. 

Girl in the Pit

Five teen girls have recently started an awareness campaign to help eliminate sexual assault at concerts. Their twitter account is called GirlsAgainst .

The call to action is quite simple. First make people aware that it happens. Then offer a few different tactics to cope with it as the situation unfolds. Even better, you can help prevent it from taking place at all. The most important thing in any sexual assault situation is to let the victim know they are not alone so the GirlsAgainst site also serves as a place for music fans to share their experiences. These tweets let a band know that a fan has experienced a horrific trauma during their performance. It make venues aware that their bouncers should not only be on the look out for these situations but remove those committing the offense from a show immediately. For me the most important piece of this puzzle is educating fellow audience members and alerting them to the fact that they have the power to help in this situation. If you see something that looks like sexual assault or abuse, say something. Ask the victim if they need help. Get them away from the person (or sometimes persons) assaulting them. Get security involved. Just whatever you do, don't ignore the crime. THIS IS A CRIME. Sexual assault at a show happens all the time and I am not sure which is more maddening, the fact that it happens at all or that people stand by and let it happen. If you are someone who is being attacked, let everyone know around you what is taking place and ask for help. People's attention are often at the band and not around them so it may take screaming to make those around you aware of what is happening. Do not be embarrassed or ashamed. You have not done anything wrong.

I am speaking from personal experience here. I have been going to shows nearly weekly since 1990. I am very well aware of crowd behavior, how quickly a group of people can ignite into a frenzy as soon as their favorite band plays their first note, and when the adrenaline kicks in, frightening things can happen.

There are multiple situations that can make a very large standing audience threatening in a flash. A very packed venue means a lot of strangers pressing up against each other and shifting positions regularly in order to move closer or farther away from the stage, gets drinks, or go to the bathroom. Some people take advantage of this situation as they pass through the crowd. They grope at breasts, asses, and before you can say something or hit them off of you, they are gone. Unfortunately some people also get off on these close encounters with strangers and they will begin rubbing themselves on you in a disgusting dry hump. It seems impossible that this could be happening in front of so many people but when all eyes are on a band and the venue floor is dark, it goes unnoticed but DOES happen.

I was actually once pinned against the stage of Wetlands in NYC at a metal show by a man I vaguely knew from a local band. He started dry humping me and placing his hands all over me. When I told him to stop touching me a number of times, the situation ended with me throwing numerous punches at him and me leaving the show. There wasn't a security person to tell so rather than enjoy the show somewhere else, I removed myself from a space I no longer felt safe in. When I began telling people about the crime this man committed against me, nobody wanted to get involved. It wasn't their business. Every single man in the metal / hardcore scene that also knew him, didn't have the courage to help me or let him know what he did was not only wrong but that it was a crime. It was a genuine sex offense. I was a victim twice.  Not only was I attacked at a show by this monster but then my peers made me feel like I was making a big deal out of nothing. I was devastated. It still enrages me to this day. Who knows how many other women this man has done this to or is still doing it to.

There are more experiences like this, especially during my years of going to shows around the tri-state area through the '90s. It wasn't just hardcore or metal shows either; it was all shows. Especially after Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video came out, people (mostly men), decided moshing must happen at every show. I am not kidding when I say every show. The Sundays who are about as calming as a rainy cold day in winter, had to stop their show NYC because the crowd had whipped them into a violent frenzy. As a crowd builds energy and the adrenaline kicks in, almost anything is possible. The strength of this kind of group can move mountains and it can be very easy for a person to fall victim to numerous attacks - not all just sexual.

Again, speaking from personal experience I have had every possible combination of things happen to me at a show and only once was I ever helped.  I kept going to shows, standing close to the stage because I felt it was my right as a fan of the band. I refused to be bullied but pushed, punched, picked up and moved, and groped I was. At a Mudhoney show a group of men made fun of me for being in what they considered a girl free zone at a show (IE the pit) and they picked me up like a bowling ball reaching under my dress, and lifting me from my crotch to then throw me into a crowd surfing situation. By the time I came back down I was far away from those creeps buy it had all happened so quickly that I am not sure I could easily pick them out of a line up or be able to find them among 500 plus people on the floor of the venue with security.

At many of the hardcore shows the attitude by some men was that women shouldn't be in the front area near the stage at all. As a pit began to build, no matter how careful you were to remain on the outer edges of it, there were some people who took great joy in targeting women by pushing them into the pit. Yes, ritual and accepted violence is already taking place in this area but then some people use this opportunity to cop a feel before shoving you as hard as they could in another direction. Again, things happen so quickly, the crowds shift and churn endlessly, so it can be very difficult to deal with an attacker or find security to try your best to try to pick out a person or persons who blend into a uniform look of that music scene. It feels hopeless so you either get used it or you end up standing in the back and avoiding these confrontations all together.

The sad reality is this happened to me so many times that I have lost count. There are thousands of victims just like me who have felt or still feel powerless about it. I believe it is possible to have bands, fellow music fans, and music venue's security working together to stop sexual assault from happening at concerts. We know this crime isn't acceptable under any circumstance so why would the music community want to turn a blind eye to this? Women buy music. Women attend concerts. Women buy merch. Women share and like your music related content. If you won't listen to our voices asking for help, perhaps losing us as a fan, an unpaid marketing tool, and paying customer will be what the music industry finally reacts to.

Read more about women fighting against sexual assault at shows here. 

Flashback Thursday : Mecca Normal

There is something so impressive about a powerful two piece band, especially when it doesn't follow the traditional rules of what we think a band equals. In this case we have a remarkable guitar player named David Lester and vocalist Jean Smith. Together they make Mecca Normal, a band who have managed to prove that no other instrument is needed. The communication between fretted instrument and voice is more than enough.  This Vancouver duo has been producing music from 1984 that evokes thought and expels energy. In this stripped down form the power of each instrument, guitar and voice, are poignant. Lyrics are highlighted by the nature of this beast and are delivered through dramatic flashes. Captured in raw form, this kind of intensity isn't for everyone but being pushed to just outside my comfort zone on occasion gives music the kind of exciting dangerous element that rock and roll was invented for. Life is a balance of ugly chaos and moments of beauty, Mecca Normal manages to deliver both and if Patti Smith had a secret sister, I think Jean Smith might be her.

Big is Beautiful!

Beth Ditto of the band The Gossip is releasing a line of plus-sized clothing coming this Feb. To kick things off she is selling a limited edition t-shirt that is a collaboration with long time friend of her's Jean Paul Gaultier (see the shirt below).

New Album Alert : Deradoorian

Los Angeles musician Angel Deradoorian has an impressive pedigree. She was the bass player and vocalist in Dirty Projectors. She has lent her talents to Slasher Flicks, an Avey Tare side band. She has offered vocals to the likes of Flying Lotus, the Roots, and Matmos to name a few. Her new solo album The Expanding Flower Planet on Anticon does not stray far from the creative company she has kept in the past. It is a hypnotic tapestry threaded by her complex vocal layers. Her voice charters a hypnotic Middle Eastern magic carpet ride that brings a listener to the exotic places that albums like Medulla by Bjork and Can's Tago Mago have explored in years past.

Throwback Thursday : Bush Tetras

Active on and off since the late '70s, this NYC post punk band never got quite the same kind of attention as bands like Blondie, The Ramones, or The Talking Heads did. Here is their first single and one of the best known Bush Tetras songs, "Too Many Creeps" from 1980.

Side note, whenever I DJ this song, at least one person thinks it is Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth singing - without fail.

A First Date With . . . Failure

I am still trying to wrap my head around this feature interview series by Noisy (Music by Vice) that have been dubbed "A First Date With" that turns a musician interview into something that could be more accurately aligned with a music journalist creeper. It blurs the line between a professional writer and an awkward blind date. A writer takes out a musician on what they call a first date and then a really uncomfortable line of questions are followed by equally as uncomfortable answers.

I am sure this twist on artist interviews is intended to be edgy and fun but the whole series actually just makes me sad. What nonsense musicians have to go through to get press no less be faced with a line of questioning that doesn't have much to do with the art they are creating. Each final Noisy piece in this series reads more like an embarrassing teenage diary page from the interviewer and makes me question how seriously anyone should take Noisy. I am certain there are naked, live chats happening between  strangers on line at this very moment that are more artful and interesting than any of these interviews.

This approach to music journalism cloaks an artists interview with unnecessary sexualization and moves the writer into the spotlight with the musician. I don't want to know about a writer's dating fantasies or read a conversation version of a Tinder swipe. I am exhausted by this ME ME ME mentality and how so much this style of writing detracts from an artist and the work they have put so much of themselves into. This interview technique doesn't come across as smart or funny, it comes across like an unwanted lap dance between a musician and a fan.

Reality shows are torture to me because it takes low culture to obviously scripted, new lows. Congrats Vice, you somehow made dumber even dumber.

Backyard Report : Lucy Dacus

Richmond, Virginia is the place I call home and we have what seems to be an endless wealth of musical talent here. I was introduced to Lucy Dacus through a mutual friend from the local band Manatree who also happens to play in her band. Lucy has a debut record entitled No Burden coming out via EggHunt in late February. "I Don't Want To Be Funny Anymore" has always been the strongest song live so I couldn't imagine a better song to represent what is to come from her.

Dacus has the kind of timeless voice that is smokey and bittersweet. To be honest I am still not sure how a woman as young as she is, can sound so wise beyond her years. I recently wrote about the band Our Girl from Brighton and if I was making a mix, I would put these two bands right next to each other.

The 50 Most Powerful Female Executives in the Music Industry

Billboard Magazine recently released their Women in Music issue. With it they compiled the 50 most powerful female executives in the music industry. If you are wondering how such a list is put together, here is what they say 

Methodology: Executives were chosen based on business impact, audience, market share and chart and/or tour ­performance of their artists or clients in the past year, tracked by Nielsen Music and Billboard Boxscore.

You can read the story here. 

The only catch is that with the ever changing landscape in music where barcode scans from sales and captured digital stream data mean less and less (how Nielsen Music tracks an artists sales), there is an entirely different group of women making things happen in music outside of the top 40 / Pop culture world. The independent music community is larger than ever so while this is still an inspiring list of ladies, keep in mind it only tells a portion of the whole story. 

Flashback Friday : Suely e Os Kantikus

Vocalist Suely Chagas is extra interesting to me because she recorded in a band called the Teenagers with Rita Lee before Rita went on to join one of the most famous Brazilian bands, Os Mutantes!

To me this song from 1968 sounds like proto-Deerhoof; so off the wall and great! I discovered the song from a great compilation called Obsession on Bully Records that features outstanding psych rock from all over the planet.  I will post a second song from this comp below as well.

2015 Favorite : Hurry Up

This debut self-titled release by Hurry Up combines all my favorite things. They are a trio, no frills, from the Northwest, carry two members of The Thermals and one from Bangs, and mix two favorite styles of angst; Pitchfork/Jehu/Hot Snakes when the male vocals take over and Riot Grrrl when the female vocals are leading the way. PUNK LIVES!

Mistaking Music Chemistry for Dating Chemistry

Recently Gretchen Kelly wrote a piece called The Thing All Women Do That You Don't Know About. It perfectly describes a female conditioning that begins when we are very young and are faced uncomfortable male attention time and time again. It often starts quietly. A man shows or states their interest in us sexually and when we respond with a polite no, we are hit with a volley back of verbal insults. threats, and sometimes an angry physical response. Any or all of this can be terrifying.

In my mid 20s I was walking to work in the morning and passed a construction crew. One man started yelling at me as I approached the work sight. I ignored him but rather than just stop shouting at me, he screamed even more vulgar things. I finally stopped and told him to stop shouting at me. I was furious, insulted, and it ended with me yelling an obscenity back at him while giving him the finger. This flipped his switch. I went from being an object of desire to a bitch. He proceeded to follow me a block screaming insults about my stinking private parts, circling me, and ended his tirade with a shove and the statement that " I was trying to do you a favor you ****, even ugly girls need to feel pretty!"

After enough of these kinds of exchanges I was conditioned to deal with people like this as passively as possible. I became skilled at disarming bombs. I did not want to draw attention to the situation. I didn't make eye contact. I quickly crossed streets away from them. I began wearing headphones to block their comments out completely until one day a man grabbed them off my head to tell me I had a nice ass while groping it. Most city women know what it is like to have a man on a crowded train pinned next to you rub his erection on you and / or play with himself through his pockets. Insanely these run-ins become a normal day in a big city. Women learn to silently go about our business after each of these awful events. Rather than face confrontation we learn how to get to a safer situation and brush off these men. I am not saying this is always the correct way to handle these moments but when you are trying to get to school or work or home, sometimes all you want to do is arrive in one piece and get through your day without a scene.

I have lived in cities my entire adult life and when you walk everywhere these exchanges happen more often than not. In fact, so often that all the yelling and occasional groping stops being something I told friends, family, or co-workers about. These were my depressing secrets and I am no less relieved to learn that I am not alone in carrying this burden.

None of this however prepared me for the flip switch with men I knew well. This situation becomes a thousand times more complicated when it is a "friend" or acquaintance who puts you in this position. There is also a circle of mutual friends around the two of you to add extra layers of drama. Your home or shared spaces become tainted by the nightmare of harassment. What should be a cut and dry "no thank you" situation can grow destructive tentacles and end friendships, divide a group of friends, or in my case, kill a band.

Life experiences had prepared me for random sexist attitudes towards the things I did however I was not prepared for that kind of call to come from inside my house. Playing music with others is a sacred, family bond to me. I understand it isn't like this for everyone but as someone who does not have much family, I take my band family very seriously and extend to them a great deal of respect and kindness. They become my brothers and sisters. Not once but several times different band members crossed the line with me. They misunderstood our band chemistry for a sexual chemistry and when I replied with a thoughtful but firm "NO", each time I punished for my choice. Either I was pushed out of the band for being a problem member for some random made up thing that didn't exist before I said no or I was cut out from their life completely. In all cases the band ended and our friendships dissolved. Each time I felt like was part of a hit and run crime scene.

These situations were never discussed with the rest of the band and I rarely talked about it with friends. I mistakenly carried guilt (as so often victims do) for somehow leading them on when this was never the case. It was easier to be blackballed than face the stress of trying to explain to everyone around us what really happened. I feared harsh judgement from people who may not believe me or fully grasp the situation. I understand these men felt embarrassed for misreading our band chemistry and had bruised egos but I regret that I was the one who always felt like it was a dirty secret I should be ashamed of. Only one of these men has apologized to me over the years and in turn has been welcomed back into my life. Neither my creative relationship or friendship has been recovered with the others. These have become permanent scars I have had to live with.

It takes courage to openly discuss hurt feelings when a come-on is not reciprocated. As a younger person, I was not that brave. I did not want to stir the pot and in turn chose the no less kinder route of being pushed out and cut off. I always moved on, continued to make music, but have felt haunted by these past run ins even after all these years. I would very much like to spare others from this experience and offer others encouragement to speak up and out.

I now better understand now how band member wires can get crossed. When you play in a very active touring band together, you spend a lot of time in cramped quarters with one another. Hell, you might even have to share a bed in a hotel room when all you can afford is one room with two twin beds. You live and breathe these people daily. You share. You talk. You occasionally touch. There is a genuine connection and communication that happens between band members and for some people that exciting click can get confused for something more. Band dedication merges with personal dedication. I think it is important to stress that this is not strictly a male to female disconnect as it can go both ways. Misunderstandings and big feelings happen but it is how each of you handle it that is key.

No two relationships are the same and this is absolutely true for the dynamic between band members. Each situation and person is different and my philosophy on how to handle this has become my personal philosophy as well. The people I have let into my world are treated with love, compassion, respect, and an open mind. I am not perfect and I do not expect others to be either. I do however expect to be treated well in return. I believe you can say just about anything to a friend if it is stated in a thoughtful and kind manner (hence our band name Positive No).

If there are feelings of any kind that fall outside of playing music together that need to be discussed, I recommend doing so with a clear head. I do not suggest getting drunk and gushing emotions that may not be worded as carefully as you might sober. This is important stuff to talk about openly and honestly. You don't want anything to cloud judgement and further muddy communication. Hormones are distracting enough as it is.

There is no right way for this situation to play out. If you are both consenting adults who want to try to date while in a band together, good luck with that! It can work but you need to remain mindful of the rest of the band who has to play music and tour with a couple. Trust me, as a person approaching year seven of dating a band member (we were dates first, band members second), it is not easy task and could / should be an article in itself.

If you have fallen for a band member and can't hide your feelings any longer, be thoughtful about your next step. Before making a blind pass, think before you act. I know this is easier said than done, especially in a culture of late nights and party-like atmospheres. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. If approached correctly, a band member who is not interested in dating will take it all in stride and the band will carry on as normal. The harder part might be dusting yourself off and letting your ego take a hit.

Lastly if there is a band member who approaches you in a way that feels wrong, uncomfortable, or inappropriate, speak up immediately. The first responsibility is for you to take care of you and let this other person know they have crossed a line with you. A real friend and band member will back off and honor your feelings. No band is worth feeling unsafe or disrespected for. If your fellow band members aren't responsive in a way that makes you feel comfortable, you probably don't want to be in a band with them either. A person who lashes out at your choice to say no is not worthy of your time as a creative partner or friend.

I may have regrets about how I handled these hurdles in my past but there should be zero shame in a no. You should never have to be punished for not having a mutual feeling of interest towards someone. Your artistic world doesn't have to end when these band family members betray your trust. The lesson to be learned here is knowing you are better off without a person like that in your life. Creating art should be your safe place. Anyone who challenges or threatens that is a splinter that needs to be pulled, not lived with.

Canadian Electro-Chaos : Duchess Says

Imagine if Melt Banana remade Goblin's Suspiria or if the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provoked a nest of cyber bees. Duchess Says from Montreal takes electro / prog rock tools and uses them to create spastic chaos that does not rely on melody to drive their songs. They take a 2-D keyboard band experience and turn it into a 3-D force of nature that darts towards you at the speed of light.

In fact vocalist Annie Claude Deschênes might even tangle with you on stage so when I say this band comes at you, I mean it literally and figuratively. 

Meet the exact opposite of boring.