Bratmobile

Bratmobile
Bratmobile in 1994
Background information
Origin	Olympia, Washington United States
Genres	Riot grrrl, Punk rock
Years active	1991–1994, 1998–2003
Labels	Kill Rock Stars, Lookout!
Associated acts	Mocket Sex Stains
Website	killrockstars.com/.../bratmobile
Past members	Allison Wolfe Erin Smith Molly Neuman

Bratmobile was an American punk band. Bratmobile was a first-generation "riot grrrl" band, which grew from the Pacific Northwest and Washington, DC underground. It was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf, and garage rock.

Bratmobile formed when University of Oregon students Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman collaborated on an influential feminist fanzine, Girl Germs. At first, Wolfe admitted that they were "a fake band" because they did not play instruments, but they had written some songs which they performed a cappella. Neuman's friend Calvin Johnson, an indie musician in the Olympia scene, asked her to play a show on Valentine's Day in 1991 with Bikini Kill and Some Velvet Sidewalk. After confessing that they were not into a band in an attempt to get out of it, they agreed and sought the help of Some Velvet Sidewalk member Robert Christie. Christie let Bratmobile borrow rehearsal space and equipment and advised them to listen to the Ramones for inspiration. In response to that advice, Wolfe states that "Something in me clicked. Like, okay, if most boy punk rock bands just listen to the Ramones and that's how they write their songs, then we'll do the opposite and I won't listen to any Ramones and that way we'll sound different." With five original songs, the band played its first show as a two-woman act at Olympia's North Shore Surf Club on February 14, 1991, with Neuman and Wolfe sharing duties on guitar, drums, and vocals. Briefly, they were joined by a bass player Michelle Noel. They played only a couple shows with this line-up, including one with The Melvins and Beat Happening, also at the "Surf Club" on May 16, 1991.

During spring break 1991, Allison and Molly went to Washington, DC to follow Beat Happening and Nation of Ulysses on tour and try to work on a new form of Bratmobile that, at that time, included artist Jen Smith and Christina Billotte, of Slant 6 and , in the line-up. Together, they recorded and released a cassette tape entitled Bratmobile DC. Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson had previously introduced Molly to nascent guitarist Erin Smith from Bethesda, Maryland during the Christmas holiday in December, 1990 at a Nation of Ulysses show in Washington, DC. Smith was co-author, with her brother, of the much-revered TV pop culture fanzine Teenage Gang Debs when Allison and Molly asked her to jam with them. It clicked, and in July 1991 the trio played their first show as a 3-piece with Molly Neuman on drums, Erin Smith on guitar, and Allison Wolfe on vocals. They were just in time to play at the historic International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia, Washington, becoming the only band to appear twice. They played the opening show "Girl Night" and the show at Capitol Lake Park.