Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The 1990s brought some good music. It was the last time when musicians could perform without worrying about looking pretty. Now we have pretty people making pre-fabbed pop crap to the same old worn out beat.

When people think of Seattle's music scene from the 90s, they think of Nirvana and Soundgarden. I think of those, but I include 7 Year Bitch, the Gits, and Bikini Kill. Sadly, by the mid 90s, the Gits and Nirvana were gone. (Nirvana to Cobain's suicide, and the Gits to Mia's murder).

These two videos are a slice of the energy that existed. It still exists, in Seattle and in other cities. Non-emo rock is still around. The bands have changed. The faces are different, but the soul remains.

7 Year Bitch's music are a slice of that time in the 1990s, just before "alternative" became the marketing label for rock bands that had too much punk and blues in them to be considered straight up hard rock or metal. Neither Mia Zapata nor Kurt Cobain had died yet, and it seemed the energy would explode across the country.

They tried to call it "grunge." But that was only another label to avoid the implications of hardcore and punk developing past the 1980s cliches it became associated with.

How about just listening to it, with no labels?

another shot of whiskey...(remembering the Gits)

Winter is the season of either punk or trance techno for me. (There've been a few old jazz winters...but in my head jazz fits into punk.)

Right now it's punk.

At this moment it is the Gits. (http://www.thegits.com/history.html)

I know not many in the world have heard of them.

Back when the whole world was enthralled to any wipe that came from Seattle and Nirvana was being played on MfuckingTV, the Gits were playing and some of that "grunge" hype benefitted them with exposure. (Mind you, I liked Nirvana. And their sudden rocket blast to mainstream popularity shocked me as much as it did everyone else. At the time I thought "wtf? a hardcore band....popular?")

While everyone was listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam (and in increasing amounts, Soundgarden), the Gits were rocking and kicking out the jams, motherfucker! (MC5 reference for those of you who do not know. Kallisti!)

The Gits rocked the hell out of the Puget Sound area and created an entire music scene around them, until Mia Zapata, their singer, was murdered in the summer of 93. (That murder went unsolved for ten years.) It gives me mixed feelings of outrage and disgust that someone could do that to someone so bright.

They never signed to a major label. They never achieved "Nirvana-like" success. They never needed it. Their energy comes through with every song. And this energy has influenced so many other punk and rock bands since.

If you look them up online, using google or something, you will find references to the murder case, a movie about them, Home Alive (a group that gives women self defense lessons), the fact that Joan Jett played with the surviving members (the band going by "Evil Stig" for the tour), that 7 Year Bitch dedicated an album to Mia called "Viva Zapata!" etc. (7 Year Bitch is another pretty good band.)

These are all good.

But nothing like hearing them. I recommend anyone who likes rock, punk, 80s hardcore, or even music in general, to find the Gits and listen to them.

If you wanted to know what happened to the American hardcore scene of the 80s, it was exemplified by bands like the Gits. You could even say that it WAS the Gits.

Songs like "Another Shot of Whiskey," "Spear and Magic Helmet," and "Wingo Lamo"......damn!