Team Dresch

Team Dresch
Team Dresch performing in Seattle on September 20, 2009
Background information
Origin	Olympia, Washington, USA
Genres	Punk rock, indie rock Queercore, riot grrrl
Years active	1993—1998, 2004—present
Labels	KRS, Chainsaw, Candy Ass
Associated acts	Hazel, Adickdid, Vitapup, Born Against, Dinosaur Jr., Screaming Trees, Fifth Column, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Lois, Mary Lou Lord, The Go Team, The Spinanes, Built to Spill, Phranc
Members
Jody Bleyle (vocals, guitar, bass) Kaia Wilson (vocals, guitar) Donna Dresch (bass, guitar) Marci Martinez (drums)[when?] Melissa York (drums)[when?]

Team Dresch is an American punk band that performed and recorded in the 1990s and made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, as well as on the independent music scene. The band reformed in the early 2000s and continues to perform.

History

Beginnings

Establishment

Donna Dresch, founder of the band, had been involved in the queercore scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s as creator of her own fanzine Chainsaw and, in addition to contributing to other zines such as Outpunk and J.D.s, she contributed to and was featured on the cover of issue five of Homocore and appeared in the girl-gang film The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones.

First album line-up

The line up of the group for its first album was Donna Dresch, guitar and bass; Jody Bleyle, guitar, bass, and vocals; Kaia Wilson, guitar and vocals; and Marci Martinez on drums. All were veterans of other musical outfits; Donna Dresch had previously played and recorded with such bands as Dinosaur Jr., Dangermouse (not to be confused with Danger Mouse (TV Series)), Screaming Trees, Rastro!, Fifth Column, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Lois, Mary Lou Lord and The Go Team; Jody Bleyle was simultaneously in the bands Hazel and Lovebutt while playing in Team Dresch; Kaia Wilson had been in the band Adickdid and Marci Martinez in Calamity Jane (a band, not the singer of the same name). Scott Plouf, then of The Spinanes, now of Built to Spill was the drummer on the first 7". "Hand Grenade" appeared on Kill Rock Stars in 1994.

Personal Best (1994)

Personal Best appeared in January 1995 as a co-release on the independent labels Chainsaw Records, run by Dresch and Candy Ass Records, run by Bleyle. Washington Post writer Chris Richards called Personal Best "a fiery, all-but-forgotten punk masterpiece that sealed the gap between Sonic Youth's pop leanings and Superchunk's noisier fare."^[1] Candy-Ass then released the compilation Free to Fight, a double LP of all-women bands addressing issues such as harassment and rape and dedicated to self-defense. The band toured with self-defense instructor Alice Stagg, who spoke and gave demonstrations to the audience prior to the band's performance. The members were committed to a DIY ethic, running their own record labels and booking their own tours, akin to the Riot Grrrl movement of the 1990s.

Captain My Captain (1996)

On their second recording drummer Melissa York, previously of the hardcore punk bands Vitapup and Born Against, replaced Marci Martinez. This LP, Captain My Captain, released in 1996, also featured a guest appearance by Phranc, well known lesbian musician. The song "Uncle Phranc", written as a tribute to Phranc, appears on this album.

Original disbandment and side projects

After Captain My Captain, Kaia Wilson and Melissa York left the band to form The Butchies, while Dresch and Bleyle continued recording with the addition of new member Amanda Kelly and with Marci Martinez once again on drums. The band stopped playing in 1998, with Dresch increasingly involved in running her record label which was releasing many recordings by newer Queercore bands, including The Need, Longstocking and Sleater-Kinney. Marci Martinez went on to play in The Vegas Beat.

In 2002, Jody debuted a new band, Family Outing, which includes her brother, Allen, and in 2004, Donna returned to the stage with a new band, Davies vs. Dresch. They appeared as part of "Queercore Blitz", a group of queer bands touring the U.S together.

Reunion

In the summer of 2004, Jody, Donna, Kaia, Marci and Melissa came together to headline the queercore festival Homo-a-Go-Go in Olympia, Washington. Since then, the band has played sporadically, embarking on brief West and East coast tours throughout 2006 and 2007. Their 2007 tour came with an announcement of a new record planned to be released in 2008; as of late 2009, there have been no updates as to its development. The band's most recent reunion shows were held in Portland and Seattle in September of 2009.

Discography

Albums

• Personal Best (1994, Chainsaw Records / Candy Ass Records)
• Captain My Captain (1995, Chainsaw Records / Candy Ass Records)

Singles

• Hand Grenade / Endtime Relay / Molasses In January 7" (1994, Kill Rock Stars)
• The New Team Dresch V 6.0 Beta 7" (1998, Outpunk Records)

Split Singles

• Take On Me split tour 7" with Bikini Kill (1996, Banda Bonnet)
• What Can A Lover Do? split 7" with F-80, Shove, and Dahlia Seed (1996, Marigold Records)
• It's A Conversation split 7" with Longstocking (1998, Sub Pop)
• Temporary Insurance split 7" with The Automaticons (2000, Mental Monkey Records)

Compilation appearances

• "Fake Fight" on Periscope (1994, Yoyo Recordings)
• "Seven" on Rock Stars Kill (1994, Kill Rock Stars)
• "Song For Anne Bannon" on Free To Fight (1995, Candy Ass Records / Chainsaw Records)
• "She's Amazing" (live) and "The Lesbionic Story" on Yoyo A Go Go (1996, Yoyo Recordings)
• "Hand Grenade" on Some Songs (1997, Kill Rock Stars)
• "Deattached (A Maximum Volume Interpretation)" remix by Christoph De Babalon on Join The Queercorps (1998, Queercorps)
• "Fake Fight" and "My Voice" on The Shiner Cassette (Slo-Mo Records)

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (November 2008)

• In 1996, the influential German band Tocotronic paid homage to Team Dresch with their song "Die Sache mit der Team-Dresch-Platte" ("The Thing about the Team Dresch record"), eventually contributing to the popularity of Team Dresch in Germany.
• The band performs and is interviewed in the documentary film She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane.
• Lesbians on Ecstasy remixed Team Dresch's song "Screwing Yer Courage" as "Summer Luv". Jody Bleyle remixed this remix of her own song for the Lesbians On Ecstasy record Giggles In The Dark".

See also

• List of all-women bands

References

External links

• Official website
• Team Dresch artist factsheet
• Team Dresch unofficial fan page
• Chainsaw records
• Team Dresch at MySpace