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Bratmobile
On July 2, 2023, for the first time in more than 20 years, legendary feminist punk band, Bratmobile, performed, co-headlining with Le Tigre, to a packed crowd at the John Waters-hosted Mosswood Meltdown. The band also played a sold-out “secret” show on June 28, 2023 at Zebulon in Los Angeles. This was the first time Bratmobile delivered its iconic riot grrrl songs and joyous punk-rock antics to crowds since September 9, 2002 (in New York City). Singer Allison Wolfe and drummer Molly Neuman were joined by Rose Melberg on guitar (Tiger Trap, the Softies), Audrey Marrs on keys (Mocket, Bratmobile 2.0 live, Oscar-winning filmmaker) and Marty Key on bass (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Young Pioneers) for the performances.
Wolfe and Neuman, hailing from Olympia, Washington and Washington DC, respectively, met in the dorms as undergrads at the University of Oregon in 1989. They became fast friends, fusing their interests in punk music, social justice and do-it-yourself creativity. In 1990, with encouragement from Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail, Neuman and Wolfe started all- girl band Bratmobile and the punk feminist fanzine, Girl Germs. At the behest of K Records’ Calvin Johnson, Bratmobile played its first show as a duo opening for Bikini Kill and Some Velvet Sidewalk on Valentine’s Day, 1991, at the Northshore Surf Club in Olympia.
That spring break, Wolfe followed Neuman home to Washington, DC, where the Brats joined forces with guitarist and Teenage Gang Debs fanziner, Erin Smith, and they solidified the lineup as a three-piece by that summer. The bandmates also cofounded third-wave punk feminist network riot grrrl with the goal of making academic feminism more punk and their punk scene more feminist. Bratmobile, along with sister bands Bikini Kill and Heavens to Betsy, emerged as a primary band of the movement.