Whenever a band—particularly one that’s politically
motivated—reunites after a long separation, the threat of irrelevancy
looms large.
Luckily for cult legends Team Dresch, bigotry never goes out of style.
When the all-female fivesome first got together back in the early
days of the Clinton administration, its agenda was clear: anti-misogyny
and pro-gay, with songs addressing rape, homophobia, domestic abuse and
the Christian right. Fourteen years later, it hasn’t had to alter its
targets a single inch.
On its first two records, 1995’s Personal Best and 1996’s Captain My
Captain—both now considered long-lost classics of the riot grrrl
movement—the group, led by founder Donna Dresch, delivered furious
agitprop via sharp, splintered punk rock, spiked with hooky melodies
and loud, jagged guitars. But the band didn’t win its following through
vitriol alone. Its greatest strength was in making the polemical feel
personal, such as on “Growing Up in Springfield,” a sweet, confused
coming-of-age (and coming-out-of-the-closet) story set against the
backdrop of small-town Oregon.
With its members leaving to form other projects and Dresch herself
devoting more time to her label, Chainsaw Records, Team Dresch broke up
in 1998. But with the arrival of the Bush years, it couldn’t stay
silent for long. In 2004, the band reconvened for the Homo a Go Go
festival in Olympia, and has continued touring sporadically since.
Because even in the age of Obama, there are still plenty of things to
get mad about—and they are the same machinations Team Dresch was raging
against more than a decade ago.
SEE IT: Team Dresch plays Rotture on Saturday, Sept. 19 with
Forsorcerers, Lovers, and Erase Eratta, 9 pm, $10 or wristband. 21+.