Bratmobile is an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, formed in 1991. They are known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf, and garage rock.
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
A punk zine is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and articles about punk rock bands or regional punk scenes.
Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power in 1991. It was then popularized in the mainstream by the British girl group Spice Girls in the mid-1990s. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the Spice Girls' usage of "girl power" was one of the defining cultural touchstones that shaped the Millennial generation, particularly during their childhood in the 1990s. However, since the maturing of older Millenials in the late 2000s, it has increasingly been dropped in favor of challenging real-world sexism that has become mainstream as of Generation Z's maturing of the 2020s.
Metric is a Canadian indie rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Emily Haines, James Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key. The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw with the name "Mainstream". After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric.
Heavens to Betsy was an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1991 with vocalist and guitarist Corin Tucker and drummer Tracy Sawyer. The duo were part of the DIY riot grrrl, punk rock underground, and were Tucker's first band before she co-formed Sleater-Kinney.
The Blow is an American electro pop band, comprising Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne. Maricich and Dyne write, compose, produce and perform all the music. It was formed as a solo project by Maricich in 2002, and she was joined by Jona Bechtolt, from Yacht, from 2004 to 2007. Melissa Dyne became part of the project in 2007.
Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright, known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also known for their contributions to Arcade Fire, having toured with the band and been credited as an arranger and instrumentalist on each of their studio albums. In January 2014, Pallett and Arcade Fire member William Butler were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of the film Her (2013).
Merl Saunders was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.
The Dead Science was an experimental pop band based in Seattle.
Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank Collective.
Marriage Records is a small, independent record label formed in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2001 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The label has released a number of albums by musicians such as Adam Forkner, Dirty Projectors, Little Wings, Lucky Dragons, Tune-Yards, Yacht, and Karl Blau. Artists on the label frequently collaborate and swap members.
States Rights Records is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was "Come Along" by Little Wings. Later that year, the label released "Tongue and Tooth" by The Badger King. Bobby Birdman, Yacht, Lucky Dragons, The Blow, The Dirty Projectors, White Rainbow and others have released on States Rights Records. Each band chooses a "state" for which their release will represent within the States Rights Records catalogue. As a result, there is no catalogue number for the releases, simply states. Atlantis, Socal, and "Far West Texas" have also been represented.
Molly Neuman is an American drummer, writer and publisher, originally from the Washington, D.C. area who has performed in such influential bands as Bratmobile, the Frumpies, and the PeeChees. She was a pioneer of the early-to-mid '90s riot grrrl movement, penning the zine which coined the phrase in its title. She also co-wrote Girl Germs with Bratmobile singer Allison Wolfe while the two were students at the University of Oregon; that title later became the name of a Bratmobile song.
Parenthetical Girls was an experimental pop band formed in Everett, Washington in 2002, and disbanded in 2013.
High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, New York, that subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, California. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson.
Jen Smith is an artist, musician, zine editor, and activist from the United States. Smith is credited with being the inspiration behind the term riot grrrl and being one of the architects of the movement.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics, it is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less commonly for women.
Upset The Rhythm is an independent record label based in London with a varied roster of leftfield artists and bands; they also operate as a diverse DIY live music promoter. Huw Stephens featured Upset The Rhythm as "purveyors of interesting indie" on his BBC Radio 1 show as part of his ongoing 'Label Of Love' feature. As of 2015, Upset The Rhythm had 85 releases.
