A loosely-formed aggregation of downtown New York City players built around the openly-bisexual husband-and-wife duo of vocalist Sharon Topper and guitarist Craig Flanagin, God Is My Co-Pilot emerged as one of the most crucial voices in the underground music community of the 1990s. Exploring themes ranging from sexuality to radical politics to... [+] Read More

A loosely-formed aggregation of downtown New York City players built around the openly-bisexual husband-and-wife duo of vocalist Sharon Topper and guitarist Craig Flanagin, God Is My Co-Pilot emerged as one of the most crucial voices in the underground music community of the 1990s. Exploring themes ranging from sexuality to radical politics to religious enlightenment over a martial squall channelling the spirits of no-wave noise, hardcore thrash, post-funk and avant jazz -- along with the occasional touch of Middle Eastern jump-rope chants and Finnish folk music -- the group was both astonishingly prolific and breathlessly passionate; as stated in their anthemic "We Signify," "We're co-opting rock, the language of sexism, to address gender identity on its own terms of complexity. We're here to instruct, not to distract. We won't take your attention without giving some back."

Topper and Flanagin founded God Is My Co-Pilot in 1990 after finding themselves increasingly alienated from modern music; in true D.I.Y. spirit, Flanagin bought his first guitar and soon developed a self-taught improvisational technique denying the very existence of chord progressions or other accepted patterns. With a rotating battery of percussionists, he and Topper -- a remarkable vocalist capable of stop-on-a-dime shifts from sweetness to savagery -- began performing throughout New York, becoming favorites at the famed avant-club the Knitting Factory. The first in a seemingly endless series of GodCo releases was the 1991 EP Four Steps Down the Road to Trouble, issued on the group's own Making of Americans label; their first full-length, the 34-song I Am Not This Body -- a wildly eclectic free-for-all -- followed a year later. Once the floodgates opened, they never stopped; the group's massive recorded output was itself a crucial element of their polemical stance, a direct challenge to the accepted notions of music industry production and consumption.

In 1993 alone, GodCo issued nearly ten separate releases, in a variety of formats (the full-length live CD Tight Like Fist, the EP When This You See Remember Me, and the cassette-only What Doctors Don't Tell You) on a string of different labels (including Knitting Factory Works, Dark Beloved Cloud and Shrimper, respectively). In 1994, their long affiliation with John Zorn's Jewish Culture Series resulted in the release of Mir Shlufn Nisht, a straightforward collection of traditional Hebrew and Yiddish songs; in keeping with the Orthodox directive that the word "God" not be written down, the group even altered their name to read G-d Is My Co-Pilot. By 1995, along with usual flurry of new releases, they also began collecting early singles and EPs with the two-volume set The History of Music; other notable subsequent releases included 1995's Puss 02, 1996's The Best of God Is My Co-Pilot and 1997's Excuse Me, Don't Squeeze Me, a collaboration with Melt-Banana. Get Busy followed in 1998. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Queercore revolutionaries Team Dresch formed in Portland, OR in late 1993, originally comprising bassist Donna Dresch (formerly of bands ranging from Dangermouse to Dinosaur Jr.), singer/guitarist Jody Bleyle (also of Hazel), singer/guitarist Kaia Wilson (ex-Adickdid) and Spinanes drummer Scott Plouf. The group played its first show on New... [+] Read More

Queercore revolutionaries Team Dresch formed in Portland, OR in late 1993, originally comprising bassist Donna Dresch (formerly of bands ranging from Dangermouse to Dinosaur Jr.), singer/guitarist Jody Bleyle (also of Hazel), singer/guitarist Kaia Wilson (ex-Adickdid) and Spinanes drummer Scott Plouf. The group played its first show on New Year's Day 1994 minus a name, considering Magic Animal and Dyke Access Road before finally agreeing on Team Dresch; after recording their Kill Rock Stars debut single "Hand Grenade," Plouf exited, with a series of short-lived drummers completing the lineup before the addition of onetime Calamity Jane member Marci Martinez. 1995's Personal Best, a brilliantly visceral fusion of punk-pop energy and lesbian empowerment, appeared jointly on Dresch's Chainsaw label and Bleyle's Candy-Ass imprint; following the record's completion Martinez left Team Dresch, and was replaced by former Vitapup drummer Melissa York for 1996's Captain My Captain. After issuing a self-titled solo LP Kaia left the group, with the revised foursome of Dresch, Bleyle, Martinez and guitarist Amanda Kelly releasing the Outpunk single "Deattached," credited to the New Team Dresch v.6.0 Beta. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Durham, NC-based queercore trio the Butchies reunited singer/guitarist Kaia Wilson and drummer Melissa York, who previously teamed in the pioneering Team Dresch. Joined by ex-Poor Valentino bassist Alison Martlew, the Butchies signed to Mr. Lady (the independent label Wilson founded with girlfriend Tammy Rae Carlson) to issue their 1998 debut... [+] Read More

Durham, NC-based queercore trio the Butchies reunited singer/guitarist Kaia Wilson and drummer Melissa York, who previously teamed in the pioneering Team Dresch. Joined by ex-Poor Valentino bassist Alison Martlew, the Butchies signed to Mr. Lady (the independent label Wilson founded with girlfriend Tammy Rae Carlson) to issue their 1998 debut Are We Not Femme?. A year later, the Chris Stamey-produced Population 1975 was released. The Butchies didn't waste much time in between albums; Wilson kept herself busy with Mr. Lady and issued albums by Le Tigre and Sarah Dougher in the early millennium while the band prepared for a third album. Getting back together with producer Greg Griffith, the aptly titled Three appeared in 2001. Stateside dates with The Indigo Girls' Amy Ray followed that summer. A fourth effort, Make Yr Life, was recorded in ten days before hitting shelves in spring 2004. It marked The Butchies' first release with Yep Roc. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A San Francisco band that celebrates the deep subculture fringes of gay life, Pansy Division formed in 1991 with guitarist Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman. They drew influences from '60s pop and '70s punk, producing a sound that was catchy yet crunchy. Starting in 1993 with the album Undressed, Pansy Division released an album a year for... [+] Read More

A San Francisco band that celebrates the deep subculture fringes of gay life, Pansy Division formed in 1991 with guitarist Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman. They drew influences from '60s pop and '70s punk, producing a sound that was catchy yet crunchy. Starting in 1993 with the album Undressed, Pansy Division released an album a year for six years on Lookout. Included in this time were Deflowered (1994), Pile Up (1995), Wish I'd Taken Pictures (1996), and More Lovin' from Our Oven (1997). They were also touring throughout this time, and gained mainstream attention when they supported Green Day on their 1994 tour.

Consequently, the band became the de facto leader of the punk rock queercore movement and developed a small mainstream following. Recruited along the way were drummer Luis Illades and lead guitarist Patrick Goodwin. In the fall of 1998, the band released the more serious Absurd Pop Song Romance, their last release for Lookout. August 2003 found the band on a new label, Alternative Tentacles, with a new album, Total Entertainment!, that found middle ground between the humor of early records and the maturity of their prior album. Goodwin left the band in the fall of 2004 to concentrate on his other band, Dirty Power, and was replaced by Bernard Yin. Pansy Division released the joint CD/DVD album The Essential Pansy Division in January 2006. ~ Will Grega & Corey Apar, All Music Guide [-] Hide

These sex punks tunefully and loudly wag their penises and preferences about. The most successful track here is a departure for the band, The Byrds-influenced "Boyfriend Wanted." ~ Will Grega, All Music Guide

These sex punks tunefully and loudly wag their penises and preferences about. The most successful track here is a departure for the band, The Byrds-influenced "Boyfriend Wanted." ~ Will Grega, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Captain, My Captain, the sophomore album from the queercore band Team Dresch, resumes where Personal Best left off two years earlier. Like Personal Best, Captain, My Captain focuses on the struggle, angst, and confusion of being a lesbian. At the same time the album is able to transcend the lesbian cause making universally applicable statements... [+] Read More

Captain, My Captain, the sophomore album from the queercore band Team Dresch, resumes where Personal Best left off two years earlier. Like Personal Best, Captain, My Captain focuses on the struggle, angst, and confusion of being a lesbian. At the same time the album is able to transcend the lesbian cause making universally applicable statements about individual freedom, politics, and self-respect. The following quote illustrates the superior lyrics: "My mom says she loves me but I don't think its love 'cause she only loves me when I act just like she does and that's emotional blackmail." The fierce and biting lyrics are aided by raging, skilled punk rock sounds, creating one of the most intense and meaningful punk revival albums to date. Unfortunately, Captain My Captain, which yields few innovations, is unable to surpass the high standard set by Personal Best. However, Team Dresch is still able to accomplish more in this 35 minutes than many bands can in their entire career. ~ John Hinrichsen, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Pansy Division's third studio album was to a certain extent more of the same; it's little surprise, in retrospect, that the group went for such a notable leap forward musically and otherwise with Absurd Pop Song Romance in later years. That said, Wish I'd Taken Pictures isn't a bad album by any means -- it's got more of a strong punk kick than... [+] Read More

Pansy Division's third studio album was to a certain extent more of the same; it's little surprise, in retrospect, that the group went for such a notable leap forward musically and otherwise with Absurd Pop Song Romance in later years. That said, Wish I'd Taken Pictures isn't a bad album by any means -- it's got more of a strong punk kick than Deflowered, helped in part by Dustin Donaldson's turn on the drum kit and tighter riffs from Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman. Songs like "Vanilla" and "Pee Shy" capture a perfect, classic Ramones style of volume plus a melody that's better than the band had done before, while individual moments hint at the burning aggression yet to come, such the death-guitar drone and distorted singing on "Expiration Date." Still, the disc just won't be that much of a surprise to anyone familiar with the band's earlier work -- the real kickers can be found in Ginoli's increasing range of lyrical reflections on the ups and, much more often, the downs of life, romantic and otherwise. Songs like the exquisitely poignant "I Really Wanted You," directed to a past love settled into a heterosexual marriage, and the Freeman-sung "This Is Your Life," reflecting on maintaining identity in a relationship when the other person has everything planned out, capture Ginoli's skill beautifully. "The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out" is perhaps the best of the bunch on that front, an enjoyable acoustic guitar/electric bass rave-up with Ginoli deftly touching on questions of whether or not love might be in the air. Freeman once again gets a humorous moment of glory with the hilarious and fun tale of lust "Dick of Death," which covers the situation where, as the liner notes say, "sometimes bigger is better." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Of all the punk records to come out of the 1990s, Personal Best comes closest to actually recapturing the sheer passion and rage which originally spawned the movement two decades earlier; where other bands whine on endlessly about running out of beer money or losing the right to skateboard in the park, Team Dresch confront real issues --... [+] Read More

Of all the punk records to come out of the 1990s, Personal Best comes closest to actually recapturing the sheer passion and rage which originally spawned the movement two decades earlier; where other bands whine on endlessly about running out of beer money or losing the right to skateboard in the park, Team Dresch confront real issues -- bigotry, oppression, religion, self-worth -- with a sense of conviction and immediacy that lays to waste everything in their path. For an album that lasts less than 25 minutes, Personal Best is a draining, relentless experience -- it explodes on contact, the cumulative result of years of pent-up anger, frustration and desperation finally allowed release. What distinguishes Team Dresch from the vast majority of their queercore compatriots is that they never put their politics ahead of their songs -- each of these ten tracks is airtight, with melodies as blistering as the lyrics. And while some songs are explicitly polemical -- "Hate the Christian Right!" would undoubtedly send Ralph Reed into apoplectic fits -- and others like "Growing Up in Springfield" are deeply personal, there's ultimately no separating the two; Personal Best is above all a call-to-arms, which in the end is exactly what a great punk record should be. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide